Halifax £5 reward account not offered at bos branches anymore

jennifernil

I think that is where they have "shot themselves in the foot" as far as customers in Scotland are concerned.

As I understand it, the Halifax and BOS ranges of accounts are aimed at 2 slightly different markets, Halifax being the "cheap and cheerful" model, and BOS going upmarket to take over from Lloyds TSB when they disappear from Scotland.

So those of us who have accounts with both Halifax and Lloyds, and who don't want to become Co-op customers, will have to either consider getting the BOS Vantage accounts, or have the hassle of trying to open accounts with English branches.

However, since Halifax and BOS operate under the same licence, we will have less protection than we had before if we go with BOS accounts

We have also lost the option to open some good children's accounts with Halifax, as these are branch only, plus the BOS Young Saver currently pays less interest than the Lloyds one.

There really is no equivalent to Halifax for customers in Scotland right now, and without that I think they are alienating possible customers by trying to pretend that Halifax and BOS are separate these days.

If they do want them to be separate, they should do it properly.

System

Lloyds TSB and Lloyds TSB Scotland were always separate. So if you open an account outside Scotland, it wouldn't be with the same bank anyway. It's Lloyds TSB Scotland that will become TSB.

I can't see Halifax and BOS being easily separated as the Halifax is only a brand name for Bank of Scotland plc. It doesn't exist in its own right since 2007 so would likely need another Act of Parliament to create a new bank.

I'm not being snobbish but BOS (in my opinion) is probably the most upmarket of the 4 main Scottish banks. Lloyds Bank has a similar customer demographic to BOS but it's products are generally inferior to Halifax.

IMHO LBG should float 'Halifax Bank' off once the markets recover.

jennifernil wrote: »

I think that is where they have "shot themselves in the foot" as far as customers in Scotland are concerned.

As I understand it, the Halifax and BOS ranges of accounts are aimed at 2 slightly different markets, Halifax being the "cheap and cheerful" model, and BOS going upmarket to take over from Lloyds TSB when they disappear from Scotland.

So those of us who have accounts with both Halifax and Lloyds, and who don't want to become Co-op customers, will have to either consider getting the BOS Vantage accounts, or have the hassle of trying to open accounts with English branches.

However, since Halifax and BOS operate under the same licence, we will have less protection than we had before if we go with BOS accounts

We have also lost the option to open some good children's accounts with Halifax, as these are branch only, plus the BOS Young Saver currently pays less interest than the Lloyds one.

There really is no equivalent to Halifax for customers in Scotland right now, and without that I think they are alienating possible customers by trying to pretend that Halifax and BOS are separate these days.

If they do want them to be separate, they should do it properly.

scotsio

Scottish customers can always just open a halifax account by phone or internet like I've done. I couldn't believe it when I compared BOS accounts to halifax there was just no competition.

Pay in over £1000 a month with BOS and get the platinum account for £17 a month or pay in £1000 to Halifax and get the same benefits for £10 a month. The only difference I could spot is that the travel insurance allows an age of 79 compared to 71 with Halifax but as I am only 28 I'll worry about that nearer the time.

I am led to believe that most things you might need to do in a halifax branch can be done at a BOS branch with a few exceptions, but even these exceptions can be done over the phone.

jennifernil

Unfortunately for those with children, opening the children's accounts is something that can only be done in a Halifax branch at present, even if the child is an existing Halifax account holder.

jennifernil

Heng_Leng wrote: »

Lloyds TSB and Lloyds TSB Scotland were always separate. So if you open an account outside Scotland, it wouldn't be with the same bank anyway. It's Lloyds TSB Scotland that will become TSB.

I really don't care about the finer details, as far as I am concerned it's a Vantage account and pays me 3% at present, and I have £85k protection with both Lloyds and HBOS.

I don't want to be sold to the Co-op, so I have 2 choices, move to BOS and lose the 2nd £85k protection, or open Vantage accounts with Lloyds in England, which means I have no local branch.

Either way, as far as I can see, it is not a good outcome for Scottish account holders.

scotsio

Unfortunately for those with children, opening the children's accounts is something that can only be done in a Halifax branch at present, even if the child is an existing Halifax account holder.

Yeah that part of it is pretty ridiculous.

No plans of visiting berwick in the near future? Or any part of England for that matter?

For Scottish customers wouldn't it be great if everything Halifax had to offer was available online or over the phone? Seems a bit unfair that our friends south of the border get the choice between lloyds tsb and halifax whilst we seem to be stuck with an expensive BOS even if it is more upmarket.

jennifernil

Yes, we have taken the opportunity to open Kids Regular Savers for our grandchildren when on holiday this year, but having to do it every year is just not realistic.

Moneygrabba

I think it's just a way of letting less people have the reward account. Last time I was at a bos branch they tried so hard to ask me if I wanted a different account. I just told them I was happy with the account I've got. Surely the £100 switch should be granted if they won't allow you to switch the account type.

HoneyAndLemon

Heng_Leng wrote: »

IMHO LBG should float 'Halifax Bank' off once the markets recover.

What about customers in Northern Ireland where there is no lloyds or bos? What would they do if lbg got rid of Halifax..

opinions4u

HoneyAndLemon wrote: »

What about customers in Northern Ireland where there is no lloyds or bos? What would they do if lbg got rid of Halifax..

By "float" I assume it was meant sell off as an independent bank.

In other words, carry on as normal without Lloyds ownership.

Sounds like a good idea to me. But when, prompted by the EU, Lloyds were given the chance to dispose of 600 branches (about the number Halifax has) they couldn't wait to get rid of their own!