Discrimation by Halifax against Scottish children?!

moni72

jennifernil wrote: »

I was actually told the exact opposite, that I should travel to England, and that anything other than opening a Halifax account CAN be handled in our local BOS branch.

I will be giving it a try anyway, as we have 2 days in Yorkshire and 2 days in Dover planned, but I certainly would not make a special trip!

If you have any family or friends in England/Wales/NI, you could send them the birth certificate and a pre-signed R85 and ask them to open an account. A parent has to sign the R85, but anyone can open the account. Obviously they can then also pop into their branch to deal with any problems. They would need to provide ID for themselves. A child can now only have one regular saver.

If I do have any problems, I have a friend who has now said they will gladly do this for me.

Thanks for contributing so sensibly to this thread......I do have family in Newcastle and I asked the Halifax telephone helpline that very same question ie can my aunt facilitate the opening of an account with the Bank of Scotland verifying their documents etc. I was told that she could but she would be named on the account, not me. Which, of course, is of no use. I was also told that it cannot be accessed online at all anymore, whereas, the previous Children's Regular Saver I could see online. I'm not sure, according to your information, if I have therefore been given info that is not quite right.

In any case, it's all a bit cumbersome. And I must add is infuriating because I am an HBOS customer. I wouldn't have minded so much if I was simply trying to find the best new account available. It was particularly aggrieving because my children are now being excluded when they are currently customers!

I will have a look at the helpful alternatives suggested to me.

opinions4u

In the end, if you come on here claiming discrimination, mis-sale, scam or rip-off you need to be able to back it up. They are all emotive terms that imply wrongdoing when invariably no such thing has taken place.

Bank of Scotland has effectively been "set free" from Halifax. Good or bad, that's the way it is. Indeed, all the old Halifax branches in Scotland are now Bank of Scotland branches.

They are, despite the same parent company and banking licence, offering different products in different marketplaces. They are allowed to do this. It's legal, ethical and reasonable.

There are small regionalised building societies in the UK. They are not discriminating against me if it's inconvenient for me to drive to a branch to open an account. It's just the way it is. The Scottish Building Society example above is a good example.

Bank of Scotland is not discriminating against me by offering its customers a 3.30% one year term deposit when Halifax can only offer me 2.25% for a near identical product. The BoS regular savings account pays more interest than the Halifax one. They're allowed.

jennifernil

moni72 wrote: »

Thanks for contributing so sensibly to this thread......I do have family in Newcastle and I asked the Halifax telephone helpline that very same question ie can my aunt facilitate the opening of an account with the Bank of Scotland verifying their documents etc. I was told that she could but she would be named on the account, not me. Which, of course, is of no use. I was also told that it cannot be accessed online at all anymore, whereas, the previous Children's Regular Saver I could see online. I'm not sure, according to your information, if I have therefore been given info that is not quite right.

In any case, it's all a bit cumbersome. And I must add is infuriating because I am an HBOS customer. I wouldn't have minded so much if I was simply trying to find the best new account available. It was particularly aggrieving because my children are now being excluded when they are currently customers!

I will have a look at the helpful alternatives suggested to me.

Mmm, it certainly is not ideal! If she was willing to organise it, I would have thought your aunt would be the trustee on the account and the one to operate it, and your child would be named too of course, but would that really be a problem?

I haven't looked into whether the account operates any differently from before, so haven't asked whether it would show on my on line banking if I were a trustee. It can only be viewed at present of course, and the SO varied. But if that was still the same, your aunt would need a halifax account and be registered for on-line for her to view it. I would have thought the SOs could come from a different account though, but again, I haven't got as far as asking.

The info I was given is however just as likely to be wrong as yours, conflicting info seems to be a HBOS speciality!

moni72

opinions4u wrote: »

In the end, if you come on here claiming discrimination, mis-sale, scam or rip-off you need to be able to back it up. They are all emotive terms that imply wrongdoing when invariably no such thing has taken place.

Bank of Scotland has effectively been "set free" from Halifax. Good or bad, that's the way it is. Indeed, all the old Halifax branches in Scotland are now Bank of Scotland branches.

They are, despite the same parent company and banking licence, offering different products in different marketplaces. They are allowed to do this. It's legal, ethical and reasonable.

There are small regionalised building societies in the UK. They are not discriminating against me if it's inconvenient for me to drive to a branch to open an account. It's just the way it is. The Scottish Building Society example above is a good example.

Bank of Scotland is not discriminating against me by offering its customers a 3.30% one year term deposit when Halifax can only offer me 2.25% for a near identical product. The BoS regular savings account pays more interest than the Halifax one. They're allowed.

Point is this change was not communicated to me as a client, their banking staff are not able to explain it and some I have dealt with don't like it. I see it as being excluded from a product based on geographical location. We are living in the days of online banking and I do not understand the requirement to exclude either group of customers from availing themselves of products within the group (whether BOS or Halifax). They are entitled to operate how they wish and I am entitled to voice my opinion in being dissatisfied.

I have pointed out why I used the term discrimination and have also retracted it to suit the people whom it offends.

jennifernil

opinions4u wrote: »

There are small regionalised building societies in the UK. They are not discriminating against me if it's inconvenient for me to drive to a branch to open an account. It's just the way it is. The Scottish Building Society example above is a good example.

Bank of Scotland is not discriminating against me by offering its customers a 3.30% one year term deposit when Halifax can only offer me 2.25% for a near identical product. The BoS regular savings account pays more interest than the Halifax one. They're allowed.

I do think you need to compare "apples with apples" here.

Neither Halifax nor BOS are small regional building societies, they are well known national companies. There has been Halifax in Scotland for as long as I can remember......which is not that long anymore, but at least before 1986 as we had our mortgage with them then! I'm sure you will know the exact date?

And BOS seemed to have had branches in England for quite some time.

All these accounts where BOS has better rates than Halifax can be opened and operated on line, so YOU would not be disadvantaged at all.

But the children's accounts, where Halifax has the better rates, are branch opening only, so the total lack now of any Halifax branded branches up here certainly does put our children at a disadvantage in the saving stakes.

jennifernil

moni72 wrote: »

Point is this change was not communicated to me as a client, their banking staff are not able to explain it and some I have dealt with don't like it. I see it as being excluded from a product based on geographical location. We are living in the days of online banking and I do not understand the requirement to exclude either group of customers from availing themselves of products within the group (whether BOS or Halifax). They are entitled to operate how they wish and I am entitled to voice my opinion in being dissatisfied.

Exactly!

When I went our usual my branch to book an appointment for my husband to open fresh accounts for our gandchildren, I never even noticed that the branch had been "transformed" while we had been away on holiday in September.

The member of staff made the appointment without batting an eyelid. It was only when I asked a question that needed her to refer to the banking advisor in the back office, that she eventually returned and apologised saying they could no longer OPEN any new Halifax accounts as they were now Bank of Scotland.

Only on looking closely did I notice that the decor had changed slightly, and all references to Halifax had been removed. She too intimated that staff members with Halifax products were as unhappy as the customers, though it did seemto me that the full implication of the change had not fully sunk in as she had been happy to book the appointment!

She then offered to find my nearest branch, and was surprised to find it was in Carlisle. Then she rang up to ask what I should do now, and was told the account could be opened by telephone! Having read about the account I knew this was wrong, but they insisted it was fine and even gave me a special number to ring.

I did try it, just in case, but the person I got had no idea what I was on about!

So, very little info for customers, and having been away on holiday we had also been a little out of touch regarding any publicity there may have been in the media. The only thing we were aware of was the change to the Lloyds system, since our internet banking was in a mess for several days!

23n1th

I don't know how this thread about banks accounts has anything to do with university or what I can only see as jealousy(?) of a Government that is doing something for its people.

I've experienced this rubbish with HBOS when I wanted to open a joint account with my girlfriend. I have a current account with Halifax with the £5 a month top up. Obviously I wanted to open another one of these with my girlfriend, however due to living in Scotland it was unavailable. What cr'ap! I asked them why and they just said it was a Halifax account not a Bank of Scotland account. I asked them if they were now separate companies they said no. It makes no sense.

Same company in the same country (atm) different treatment depending on where you live. Very weird.

opinions4u

23n1th wrote: »

Same company in the same country (atm) different treatment depending on where you live. Very weird.

As is Lloyds TSB. Or C&G. Or Birmingham Midshires. Or Intelligent Finance.

All have different products accessible in different ways.

I don't expect to walk in to a Halifax branch and be able to get a car via Lex Vehicle Leasing. But LBG own both.

If I go in to TopMan, I don't expect to be able to buy Miss Selfridge goods. Both part of the same parent company.

I've experienced this rubbish with HBOS when I wanted to open a joint account with my girlfriend. I have a current account with Halifax with the £5 a month top up. Obviously I wanted to open another one of these with my girlfriend, however due to living in Scotland it was unavailable

Apply online? Or by telephone? While that option isn't available for Kids Regular Saver, it most certainly is for the Reward current account.

adouglasmhor

atush wrote: »

Wrong again. the English do not discriminate. Everyone pays. That is equality not discrimination.

I did not say you did, obviously you have problems with basic English, and #I was not wrong so you are a liar. Apologize for your lie now.

atush

English is my mother language. I did not lie.

You cant come on here spouting like that, and not expect a response. Sorry. No appologies from me on this fact. Everyone who attends University at an English institution pays. So no discrimination.

And anyone who wants a halifax acct can get one, if they make an effort to do so.