Halifax - Arrrgh!!!!

GirlRacer_2

Hi Sally,

I've been experiencing the same problems with the Halifax also. The problem is the Cardcash account is a bog-standard no frills account and it takes me 10 days to cash a cheque.

The 3 day cheque clearance is for current accounts. I was so p'd off with the Halifax that I've closed my account with them and opened a basic account with the A&L. (you can pay in and withdraw cash at the post office). I don't know how long the A&L takes to clear their cheques though.

Halifax have withdrawn all counter services for the basic accounts!

MarkyMarkD

Banks have generally introduced far longer clearing times for basic bank accounts, not just "for the sake of it" but because, regrettably, people with basic bank accounts are more likely to pay in cheques which end up bouncing.

With the current process for bouncing cheques relying on the postal service, banks can't be certain whether a cheque deposited will bounce of not for a lot longer than the 2/3 working days they allow to standard banking customers. They are taking a risk, with any customer, that a cheque will bounce late. They aren't prepared to take this risk with customers who aren't meant to go overdrawn because of their credit history.

Counter staff are increasingly not there to process routine transactions, which can be better done online or by direct debit (apart from things like deposits and withdrawals, which can be done using ATMs). They are there to help customers with the more complex queries including selling new accounts/services.

There's no point letting basic banking customers use the counters as the chances of them buying anything else is pretty minimal. Hence the approach Halifax have taken. It keeps the queues down for the standard banking customers.

Homework

The cheques I have waited to clear include 2 tax rebate cheques from the Inland Revenue, one from a major utility company that we had overpaid and one from the local council. They are classed as risky as personal cheques.

I agree with what you say that from a business point of view that the bank can do whatever they want to target sales of other products. I just find it odd that the bank is so willing to 'label' basic bank account customers as not requiring counter services. There is something that comes up on the screen when I am at the counter that indicates that my account is being run well, with over £1000 going in each month, which prompts them to ask about upgrading the account - this is what I have been told anyway. As they reduce the counter service, to keep the queues down for the standard banking customers, they will surely miss opportunities.

I went to a new bank, was taken automatically to a private room and spoke to the adviser. There was no question of being discouraged from using the counter, any cheques will clear faster and I get the same BACS payments earlier than at HBOS. I have a phone number to call the branch or can contact the call centre. Our income is about to double, the debt will clearing faster, my children will both be at college this year and are starting part time work, a relative has bought a house abroad and we have access to it for holidays so we may need travel insurance, and we will consider the new bank for an insurance quote when it is due. Basic account holders have needs for services and accounts too.

Requiring someone on a basic bank account to deposit their pay cheque in a machine that takes longer to clear than at the counter is a nasty trick. Can you pay £4 in £1 coins in with it to justify being at the counter?

jadzia

What a disgraceful attitude,how dare people presume that just because i am not well off,and only have a basic bank account,that anyone associated with me who may be writing me a cheque,is likely to be writing one that will bounce,my dad sends cheques for kids birthdays,xmas etc,and i dont think hes ever bounced a cheque in his life,and to date i haver never paid a cheque into my account that has been returned unpaid.
I dont know if the contents of your post was based on fact or personal opinion,but i would hope it wasn't intended to cause offence?.
With regard to the halifax,their new policy strikes me as discrimination.

MarkyMarkD

It wasn't intended to cause offence, it was reflecting the reality which banks suffer.

It may seem awful to you (and of course it does to me, too), but people who are short of money (and hence have basic bank accounts) are in some cases prone to paying in dodgy cheques as a means of getting funds. The banks got fed up of this and hence extended the clearance times on basic bank accounts.

That doesn't reflect on you, personally, in the slightest - but by opening a basic bank account you are lumped in with a group of customers, some of whom have a basic bank account (and can't get anything else) precisely because they are prone to doing dodgy things like paying in dodgy cheques.

There is no law against discrimination on the basis of wealth. If a bank chooses to give a better service to the better off, that's entirely their choice.

Almost all banks will let people who are simply "not well off" have a standard bank account. Correct me if I'm wrong in your case, but in most cases it is poor financial conduct, of some sort, which leads to people ending up with basic bank accounts.

Whilst some banks operate minimum funding limits (of say £500 a month - not a lot to be honest), others don't require any minimum deposit on at least some of their accounts. So the "not well off" are not necessarily pushed into basic banking.

The alternative to basic banking accounts, before they were introduced, was to use a building society account and the clearance times on those for cheques was often as long (if not longer) as the Halifax Cardcash one referred to. So, I'm not even sure that things have got worse for the "less well off" in terms of clearance times.

Homework

A basic account has no overdraft facility so cannot go overdrawn - no risk to the bank. Basic bank account gets no interest paid on it - bank has benefit of credit balances without paying customer. If a basic account makes a mistake a charge is made - adds to the banks profits. People with basic account may have a change of circumstances or may have already had a change in circumstances - opportunity for bank to sell products and services.

You can take a cheque to a cheque cashing place and pay to have it cashed in 20 minutes or a business can transax a cheque to get clearance on it over a counter. Why does it take 7 days to clear in the bank?

Why is her cheque more likely to bounce this week than all the other weeks when it was done at the counter?

I was just looking at the Halifax £100 over site where people have transferred over to get the £100 and may move again when another bank has an offer.

It looks like it is easier to pay for new customers than to be fair to the ones you already have.

Claire_DC

Why not try to get a citibank bank account? They seem to be quite easy to get for people with bad credit history.


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=321204


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=364010

Claire_DC

Or a lloyds tsb cash account.

I have one of those and i can pay in cheques at the counter with no problem, you could always transfer them out and into normal bank account later on?

MarkyMarkD

Homework wrote: »

A basic account has no overdraft facility so cannot go overdrawn - no risk to the bank. Basic bank account gets no interest paid on it - bank has benefit of credit balances without paying customer. If a basic account makes a mistake a charge is made - adds to the banks profits. People with basic account may have a change of circumstances or may have already had a change in circumstances - opportunity for bank to sell products and services.

You can take a cheque to a cheque cashing place and pay to have it cashed in 20 minutes or a business can transax a cheque to get clearance on it over a counter. Why does it take 7 days to clear in the bank?

Why is her cheque more likely to bounce this week than all the other weeks when it was done at the counter?

I was just looking at the Halifax £100 over site where people have transferred over to get the £100 and may move again when another bank has an offer.

It looks like it is easier to pay for new customers than to be fair to the ones you already have.

No overdraft facility doesn't stop the account going overdrawn if a bouncy cheque is banked, and the funds withdrawn before the cheque comes back "return to drawer". That's the reason for the extended clearance time.

Average balances on basic bank accounts are tiny compared to standard bank accounts, but the costs are as high if not higher - lots of £10 ATM withdrawals and the like. So to reckon that the margin on the balances covers the running costs is incorrect.

Cheque cashing places charge a high fee for the risk they accept. That's how they make their money.

The reason for the extended delay on clearing machine-banked cheques is, IMHO, simply that they aren't emptied quickly enough to ensure that they are processed as quickly as counter-banked cheques. That's Halifax's choice and I'm not sure that I understand the logic of that one.

The Halifax £100 deal isn't to attract basic banking customers, but standard banking customers, so I don't think it's relevant.

ediedachshund

This is my first post after lurking for a while. Last night my 19 year old daughter, who has a basic bank account with the Halifax, phoned me quite upset because she had tried to pay in her wages, in cash, over the counter and the counter assistant wouldn't accept it. When my daughter asked why, the counter assistant said that this was policy for all over 18yr olds, that it was to save time and told her to use the teller machine. The thing is, my daughter works for Halifax in their conveyancing department! They won't let her have a current account because she 'doesn't earn enough'. The cash was £350 which Amelia had to unfold and put into 3 envelopes-because you can only put £150 in each envelope-and she now has to wait for this cash to clear!!! On Tuesday we are going to the Halifax to put money in again. We are going to pretend Amelia is 17 and half if there are any problems. If we still can't get the money over the counter we are both going to vote with our feet and tell the manager so-I've had a Halifax current account for 14 years and to be honest this is just the spur I need to move to a better account.