Halifax Reward account?

hannaht

Whilst in the Halifax yesterday opening fixed rate bonds for the kids, I was given a hard sell re the reward current account.

I've been with HSBC since I was 18 and opened a student account (gulp - 26 years ago). I've never had any problems with HSBC but I do like the sound of £5 a month and £100 to sign up.

Just wondered if there is a catch & how people rate Halifax as a place to hold your main current account? My account is always in credit so overdraft fees aren't an issue at the moment and I can pay in £1000 a month.

Any advice gratefully received! Thank you xx

HappyMJ

No catch. Just deposit £1,000 per month and collect £5 per month.

You may need to transfer a few direct debits or standing orders to qualify for the £100 so you might want to transfer a few fixed direct debits and leave enough in the account to cover them.

Some people think that £1,000 is a lot of money which to them it is but the money only needs to stay there for a few minutes before being transferred back to the other account. If someone didn't quite have £1,000 they can use a smaller amount such as £100 and transfer it back and forward several times to meet the deposit requirement.

hannaht

Thanks for that, I might give it a go then.

Yes indeed the £1000 wouldn't be in there for very long!!

pinkdalek

Out of interest why did you choose the Halifax for the fixed children's accounts?

If they dealt with them to a standard you were happy/confident with then why not consider switching your current account?

Ask yourself also, what do HSBC do for you as a customer? You're loyalty is impeccable (26yrs) but what have they done for you in that time. If they have rewarded you with the same loyalty then you need to give that thought also, however if they've done naff all apart from just pay your wages in and bills etc, well sorry you'd expect to get that basic service from any high street bank....

ellebee1986

Just wanted to say Im in a similar position to yourself, been with RBS for 15 years but have been tempted by the Halifax offer and have gone for it! Money is money after all and as previous poster said, in the 15 years Ive been with them they really havent done much for me apart from basic transactions oh and turning me down for a credit card / over draft / top up loan despite being able to clearly see my account is always in credit. So im giving halifax a go. Got my paperwork this morning and signed it all ready to send back for the switching service.

Does anyone know how long you have to wait before receiving the £100?

AdamJK_2

ellebee1986 wrote: »

Does anyone know how long you have to wait before receiving the £100?

Usually paid within 2 working days of the sign up and the account being active (i.e. opened fully).

jamja

I left the Clydesdale bank when they closed our local branch and went over to HBoS and then switched my account, my OH and our joint account to reward accounts. Each month we transfer the 3 fivers into a seperate savings account - we are approaching £500 in the 'wee free fiver' account :-)

hannaht

Thanks for all the replies. I think I might give it a go.

Haven't had any problems with HSBC and have been fairly happy with them, but then I've never given them any trouble either. I'm not thinking of moving through dissatisfaction, just keen to try a special offer, but there's always the worry that maybe there's a downside eg apalling customer service or something, so I thought I'd ask just in case.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

H

jonmcclelland

Banked with Halifax and have two reward accounts with them. Never had an issue with them. If you pay £1000 into it each month, you get the £5 reward. If you can't, then you won't receive it for that month. It's that simple.

Frogletina

I opened up a Halifax reward account just before they offered the £100!

However, my query is that I received my first £5 on June 1st but have not yet received one for July yet. I transferred two lots of £500 in there in the middle of June and transferred £1000 out to their online saver the next day.

Has anyone had the July payment yet? I am wondering if it because the first was on a Saturday

rb10

It usually appears overnight at the end of the first working day of the month - i.e. tonight.