Transferring between Halifax and Santander

4$£&*(£$&*(!

intalex wrote: »

I'm in the same boat, and was also wondering if this is true. Do you remember if this was stated anywhere (e.g. link to t&c's)?

I've already opened the Santander 2 year fixed ISA (through upgrading a Flexible ISA which had my full 2011/12 allowance), and was hoping to transfer my prior years' ISA from the Halifax Reward ISA to this new one, but now wondering if I should hold off sending the transfer form until the anniversary of the Halifax account (which is in a week).

I have just found this 11 page thread on the subject:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3530363

What is concerning me now, and I am skimming through posts as best as I can, is do we need to keep the money in a full 12 months in order to qualify for the interest on this ISA?

4$£&*(£$&*(!

Okay I think I have a solution.

http://forum.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3838845 tells me I should be fine to do a partial transfer out (bearing in mind I have old tax years and a current subscription now).

So my idea is - open Santander account now, transfer all but £1 from Halifax. That secures my Santander account. Then the interest on the Halifax account is paid on 5/4 into the Halifax ISA, then the next day my reward of 0.2% extra is payable. Since that account will have been open for one full year on 6/4, can I at this point put in a separate transfer request to Santander to close the Halifax account and put the interest into Santander?

Phew!

Siobhan789

Just to let u know once u open the direct isa there is not timescale for when u need to put in the isa transfer form tho I would say that the quicker u do it the better because the 12 month bonus starts from when account is opened no funded

ljaneyr

CitySlicker wrote: »

Hi, I am trying to get my head around a couple of bits so if anyone can help I would really appreciate this.

I currently have the Halifax Reward ISA at 3% but as it is a reward account it pays 0.2% extra. I think I understand to get the extra 0.2% I must keep the account open until the 12 month anniversary is up which will be on 6 April.

After 6 April the account plummets to under 1% so I want to transfer across to Santander's account paying 3.3%. I doubt the offer will be open that long so I want to apply tomorrow when the account is available to apply online, it is playing on my mind the Santander offer is brilliant and not likely to stick around.

Here's the bits I need to know. Firstly can I write on my ISA transfer form via Santander once forwarded to Halifax they are not to process the instruction until after 7 April?

Secondly if I use the transfer to be the opening funding for the Santander account, will the one year bonus be applicable from the date I apply or the date the transfer is completed?

Does anyone have any other general advice for me? The 0.2% interest is worth about £30 roughly, but for every day the money is sitting in the Halifax account after 6 April I'll be losing well over £1 per day.

Hi, I have an additional question to add to this. I also have this account and my opening transfer went in on 11th Apr 2011. Is this the date the account must be open until?

Thanks for this thread, I was unaware of this until now but will fill in the santander transfer form in the same way as the OP and hope for the best! Every year when ISA transfer season comes round again I really struggle to remember what I did the previous year!

[Deleted User]

Hi all,

I'm in a similar boat myself; I've got a 'full' Halifax/BOS ISA Saver Direct which I've been told will give me interest from the 5th April (it appears in my account from the 6th) but I would like to open a Santander 3.3% ISA - can I do this in the meantime and leave it idle until I'm ready to transfer in? Or does the transfer have to happen straight away... I understand it's £2500.

That said, is there any real rush? Are the >3% ISAs out there simply going to vanish after the 6th April?

Thanks.

blueberrypie

slipd wrote: »

I'm in a similar boat myself; I've got a 'full' Halifax/BOS ISA Saver Direct which I've been told will give me interest from the 5th April (it appears in my account from the 6th) but I would like to open a Santander 3.3% ISA - can I do this in the meantime and leave it idle until I'm ready to transfer in? Or does the transfer have to happen straight away... I understand it's £2500.

What's the interest rate on the Halifax ISA Saver Direct? If it's less than 3.3%, why not just transfer it immediately and earn more interest sooner?

[Deleted User]

blueberrypie wrote: »

What's the interest rate on the Halifax ISA Saver Direct? If it's less than 3.3%, why not just transfer it immediately and earn more interest sooner?

Thanks for the reply! Its currently 3% but they told me on Saturday that I would lose that after the 5th if I didn't change it... they offered me 3% if I stayed with them AND changed my current account

Surely if I pull out of Halifax before the end of the tax year I'll lose out won't I? Aren't there early closure penalties etc.

blueberrypie

slipd wrote: »

Thanks for the reply! Its currently 3% but they told me on Saturday that I would lose that after the 5th if I didn't change it... they offered me 3% if I stayed with them AND changed my current account

Surely if I pull out of Halifax before the end of the tax year I'll lose out won't I? Aren't there early closure penalties etc.

Not on a variable rate ISA, which is what the Saver Direct is. If it was a fixed-rate ISA there would probably be penalties, but on this one, you can close/transfer whenever you want - the interest will be paid up to the date of closure/transfer.

Vortigern

ljaneyr wrote: »

Hi, I have an additional question to add to this. I also have this account and my opening transfer went in on 11th Apr 2011. Is this the date the account must be open until?

Assuming you mean you have a Halifax Reward ISA you need to keep it open till 11th April to qualify for the 0.2% bonus. If you transfer out before that you'll still get the basic 3% interest.

slipd wrote: »

I'm in a similar boat myself; I've got a 'full' Halifax/BOS ISA Saver Direct which I've been told will give me interest from the 5th April (it appears in my account from the 6th) but I would like to open a Santander 3.3% ISA - can I do this in the meantime and leave it idle until I'm ready to transfer in? Or does the transfer have to happen straight away... I understand it's £2500.

There's a 14 day window to transfer in to Santander's fixed term products. There does not appear to be a similar restriction on the 3.3% Direct ISA

slipd wrote:

That said, is there any real rush? Are the >3% ISAs out there simply going to vanish after the 6th April?

Possibly. Santander withdrew their market leading 3.5% ISA last year, shortly after the tax year end (and before I could get an appointment to open one!)

[Deleted User]

That's a point, does it matter that I've been a Santander customer before? I had my first ISA with them about 3 years ago.