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

opinions4u

innovate wrote: »

They don't do everything the same as Halifax. For instance, BoS are no longer accepting new applications for the Reward Current Account, or for the URCA, whilst Halifax obviously do.

I reckon it's a matter of looking out for any T&C changes if you are a BoS Reward or URCA customer. Currently, there doesn't appear to be anything on their website about a change.

BoS is like the wife of Halifax but playing away with Lloyds TSB.

They'd all be better off on their own!

andy_allblack

opinions4u wrote: »

BoS is like the wife of Halifax but playing away with Lloyds TSB.

They'd all be better off on their own!

I like this, seems totally apt!!!!!! Still waiting to see if BOS follow Halifax.

travellor

Pound wrote: »

Are you allowed more than 1 account, even as much as 6?

I sometimes see an option to open a second account but assumed I would only be elligible for one bonus.

Halifax allows 2 Reward accounts max
1 in your own name
1 as a couple
so as couple can achieve 3 accounts max ( 2 singles and a joint)
Or 1 only as a single person (i.e. you have no one to be joint with)

Lloyds, allows 3 vantage accounts per person (joint or single)
so the max for a couple is 6
3 in one name
3 in the other.
OR 3 as joint (not 6 - so only have single accounts)

Lloyds does 3% interest upto 5000 pounds on vantage
and did have an offer of 4% if you had 5001-6000
but like the discussion needed 2 DD per account.

ALL of the accounts from Halifax, LLoyds
(and nationwide for that matter)
Can have FREE text alerts set for (you can have all 3)

Below 0 warning - so you can login and move money that day
Below a minimum level - so get a warning level (below 4999 to max the 5000)
Above a maximum level - so if it goes over say 5001
(eg no interest above this for Lloyds,then you can move it somewhere else )

AND a once a week (you choose the day)
summary text of all transactions on the account.

Therefore you can get on the day warnings of your danger,
and correct it before the end of business day check of below 0.
i.e. you can go below 0 during the day, but must be above by the end.

polymaff

IMHO, this report is a poor one. It emphasises the relatively trivial and in its righteous OTT-ity only makes passing reference to a more important issue. Sounds a bit familiar?

For most of the time Halifax has been offering a monthly cash payment it has been conditional on not going into the red - and for most of that time there was no buffer at all. They've every right to change - providing they give notice - and the lower monthly threshold is quite generous. Everything they're changing seems to me to be quite appropriate (The clue is in the word R-E-W-A-R-D) and the "two direct debits" test is a reasonable way of limiting exploitation.

What MSE SHOULD have done was a) to emphasise the "2 direct debit" issue as something that might trip up worthy recipients of the REWARD and b) chase up the Halifax for their ambiguity in stating the eligibility as "pay at least 2 different direct debits". Do they mean "have two DDs setup - even though they may only be activated once in a blue moon"? Do they mean "have at least two direct debits on every monthly statement"? Do they mean "have at least two direct debits every calendar month"? There was a time when MSE could be relied upon to pick these issues up for themselves

I carry no torch for the Halifax. They're a careless, incompetent disorganisation. I'm neither sympathetic to this style of journalism. There's a lot of fire-eating going on at the moment - but in the forums only, please. Many of us, I suspect, want MSE to be the source of information we badly need - which I think is where MSE kicked off. My, my, how times change

Consumerist

polymaff wrote: »

There's a lot of fire-eating going on at the moment - but in the forums only, please. Many of us, I suspect, want MSE to be the source of information we badly need - which I think is where MSE kicked off. My, my, how times change

There is a suspicion that MSE is afraid, nowadays, of upsetting prospective funding of moneysupermarket.com to whom they (we) have been sold.

polymaff

I think we've all got that worry at the back of our minds, but this "story" has prompted me to comment on a trend which IMHO has been present for some time, namely a drift away from information to demagoguery. It is quite likely that most of these organisations are exploitative ba****ds - but that doesn't justify an attitude of "so they're fair game then - in with the boot". From some of the comments in this thread, I don't believe I'm alone in mourning this change in MSE.

opinions4u

For most of the time Halifax has been offering a monthly cash payment it has been conditional on not going into the red

No it hasn't. It's been conditional on crediting the account with £1,000 a month.

polymaff

Sorry, my mistake. What I should have said was that you were penalised, which before they renamed the eventually ludicrously-named High Interest Bank Account to the name Reward Bank Account meant that you received a lower rate of interest if you went into the red

innovate

polymaff wrote: »

Sorry, my mistake. What I should have said was that you were penalised, which before they renamed the eventually ludicrously-named High Interest Bank Account to the name Reward Bank Account meant that you received a lower rate of interest if you went into the red

Que? Did you mix up the Halifax Reward with another account?

There was never any interest on the Halifax Reward for the last , at least, 3 years.

What lower interest rate are you referring to?

opinions4u

innovate wrote: »

Que? Did you mix up the Halifax Reward with another account?

There was never any interest on the Halifax Reward for the last , at least, 3 years.

What lower interest rate are you referring to?

I'm baffled too.

HICA paid 6% and 5% at different times, again the £1,000 funding triggered the interest.

Going overdrawn didn't remove any accrued interest from time in credit.