MSE News: Halifax axes £5 monthly payments to overdrawn current account holders

Former_MSE_Helen

"The giant will no longer pay the monthly fiver if account holders go just 1p over their limit in any month..."

Read the full story:

Halifax axes £5 monthly payments to overdrawn current account holders

Consumerist

As long as customers remember that Halifax is about the greediest pig at the banking trough, they won't be surprised by any of these changes.

I've banked with them for a while and haven't had any major problems - but then I don't go overdrawn beyond the end of a banking day. Anyone who does should probably get out.

jamja

Yikes! I have 2 standing orders that come out of my reward account, but no direct debits. I'll need to try and sort that before May...

VT82

MSE_Helen wrote: »

Halifax axes £5 monthly payments to overdrawn current account holders

Fair enough.

VT82

Oh, and 'a kick in the teeth'?!?! They've been giving people free money for ages, as well as providing a useful service to them for free. And now they're tweaking it a little, and are well within their rights to do so.

Ditto when they inevitably pull the reward altogether, they will be within their rights to do so, at which point people can vote with their feet. But no doubt you'll get people stirred up (by MSE or otherwise) into shouting that it's a 'kick in the teeth' and a 'disgrace' that they're no longer going to be given free money for nothing.

withabix

Seems reasonable enough to me, as a Lloyds shareholder!

I don't see why they should pay you £5 unless you are in credit anyway.

aleph_0

The other thread on this subject, started by a board member a few weeks ago might be of use here.

In particular, the fact that charities can often set up direct debits for small amounts each month, or there are various Savings Accounts that offer deposit by direct debit.

(h/t to innovate and Der52, respectively)

pinkdalek

And what do other banks give their customers who remain in credit and salary fund their current accounts?

innovate

How exactly are Halifax dealing a blow and kicking people in the teeth?

• no overdraft charges for the first £50 (up from £10)
• minimum deposit down to £750 (from £1,000)
• prospect of literally free £60 a year, and zero overdraft charges, if you can control your spending
• even if you just cannot stay out of the red every month, you can still earn free fivers in other months

OK, for some it might be a bit of an inconvenience that 2 monthly DDs need to come out of the account for the free fivers. But other than that, there's nothing negative?

innovate

pinkdalek wrote: »

And what do other banks give their customers who remain in credit and salary fund their current accounts?

Cashback and interest, free travel insurance, super ISA rates... :cool:

But you are right, most others give diddlysquat. So those that do give something tangible (as opposed to "great CS" and other luvvy-duvvy) should get a positive mention, rather than getting bashed.

opinions4u

MSE News: Halifax axes £5 monthly payments to overdrawn current account holders

What other headlines could they have used?

"Halifax invites lower paid customers to free fivers party"

"Halifax removes overdraft fees for small borrowing"

"Halifax encourages prudent banking by stopping incentives to overdrawn customers"

But no, MSE come out with a Daily Mail style headline instead.