Halifax Reward Current Account - Help?

Alarae

Knowing me I'm just making a fuss over nothing, but I just want to make sure that I've got everything down before I go ahead with this.

So, a few questions to the fantastic people on this board;

1) With the £1000/£750 a month that needs paying in, can I transfer it in from another account and then straight back out, or does it need to stay there for a few days/whole month?

2) When on the webpage, it says there is a £100 incentive to switch to the account from another provider, but it needs to come with two direct debits. If I set up two online savings accounts which accept DDs and set them up on my other account, would these satisfy the DD criteria on the Halifax account for the £100 incentive?

3) Pretty much as above, would two DDs to savings accounts (I'm hearing that the Post Office Online Saver and the Tesco Bank Saver accept them) satisfy the Halifax criteria for the £5 a month?

Sorry if this has been asked a million times, but I'm only just starting to get into the whole bank-savvy crowd

dr_adidas01

Alarae wrote: »

Knowing me I'm just making a fuss over nothing, but I just want to make sure that I've got everything down before I go ahead with this.

So, a few questions to the fantastic people on this board;

1) With the £1000/£750 a month that needs paying in, can I transfer it in from another account and then straight back out, or does it need to stay there for a few days/whole month?

2) When on the webpage, it says there is a £100 incentive to switch to the account from another provider, but it needs to come with two direct debits. If I set up two online savings accounts which accept DDs and set them up on my other account, would these satisfy the DD criteria on the Halifax account for the £100 incentive?

3) Pretty much as above, would two DDs to savings accounts (I'm hearing that the Post Office Online Saver and the Tesco Bank Saver accept them) satisfy the Halifax criteria for the £5 a month?

Sorry if this has been asked a million times, but I'm only just starting to get into the whole bank-savvy crowd

1, Yes you can transfer it from another account and leave it in for a matter of minutes for it to count towards getting the £5 credit each month.

2, To get the £100 you need to switch your main account with direct debits over to the Halifax reward account. This has to be done by the dedicated switching team. Provided that the 2 direct debits were set up before you switch your account then yes they would count.

3, Any 2 direct debits would cover the criteria, so 2 saving account direct debits will count.

Alarae

dr_adidas01 wrote: »

2, To get the £100 you need to switch your main account with direct debits over to the Halifax reward account. This has to be done by the dedicated switching team. Provided that the 2 direct debits were set up before you switch your account then yes they would count.
.

How would they know it is not a main account? My main account is my student account, and I don't want to switch that. I have a separate current account that gets some money paid into to from parents each week, so would they be any wiser? Could they somehow find out it is not my main account and take away the £100 incentive?

dr_adidas01

You've answered this one yourself, they will know as you don't have anything paid into your account by an employer. Just your parents each week, which would be classed as a faster payment and not a salary payment.

As it states in the terms of opening the account:

Switching to us means transferring all of your active direct debits (a minimum of two, otherwise we have the right to claim back the £100) and other regular payments, plus automated credits, e.g. your salary, into your new Halifax current account. You cannot transfer into multiple Halifax current accounts.

So yes they can if they find out take back the £100!!!!

Jox

I think the £1000 has to be in the account for a couple of days around the first of the month.

I had £1000 in the account one month but withdrew it before the 1st of the month and didn't get the fiver.

Alarae

Oh right. Well I do have a part-time job so I can change the bank details to get paid into my separate account instead of my student, and then transfer for the incentive?

However wouldn't my employer need the new bank account details (Halifax) anyway once I switch? Could I just forgo having to change my salary details twice (once to other account, then again to Halifax) or could I just open up the Halifax account and then swap my salary over to get paid into that account? I am assuming that banks cannot notify employers of a switched account, and that I have to do it personally.

Sorry for all the stupid questions, I am just trying to get my head around it all so I don't end up losing out because I missed something.

dr_adidas01

Jox wrote: »

I think the £1000 has to be in the account for a couple of days around the first of the month.

I had £1000 in the account one month but withdrew it before the 1st of the month and didn't get the fiver.

This is nonsense as long as you pay £1000 in a calendar month you get the £5.

I pay in £1k around the middle of a calendar month and get my £5 reward on the first banking day of the month. You only have to leave it in for a few minutes to get it too.

Hooloovoo

Quite a lot of rubbish being posted in this thread.

dr_adidas01 wrote: »

You've answered this one yourself, they will know as you don't have anything paid into your account by an employer

That is not a requirement. They give an example and switching your salary, but do not require it. For example, what about the retired and the self employed that do not have a salary?

So long as you pay in the minimum required amount from an external account, either in one go or over several payments, then you are done.

As it states in the terms of opening the account:

Switching to us means transferring all of your active direct debits (a minimum of two, otherwise we have the right to claim back the £100) and other regular payments, plus automated credits, e.g. your salary, into your new Halifax current account.

Again, it only gives salary as an example of an automated credit. But no automated credits are required - only that you must transfer them if they exist. If there are no automated credits on the account you are "transferring" from, then that doesn't matter.

Jox wrote: »

I think the £1000 has to be in the account for a couple of days around the first of the month.

No, it doesn't. You can transfer the money straight back out again as soon as the faster payment has reached your account.

I had £1000 in the account one month but withdrew it before the 1st of the month and didn't get the fiver.

The account balance is irrelevant. You must pay in the minimum amount each month. The fact that your balance was at least the minimum does not count towards the minimum funding.

dr_adidas01

Alarae wrote: »

Oh right. Well I do have a part-time job so I can change the bank details to get paid into my separate account instead of my student, and then transfer for the incentive?

However wouldn't my employer need the new bank account details (Halifax) anyway once I switch? Could I just forgo having to change my salary details twice (once to other account, then again to Halifax) or could I just open up the Halifax account and then swap my salary over to get paid into that account? I am assuming that banks cannot notify employers of a switched account, and that I have to do it personally.

Sorry for all the stupid questions, I am just trying to get my head around it all so I don't end up losing out because I missed something.

Again you would have to have your salary paid into your separate account, so that Halifax can transfer it to them and inform your employer of your new account details to get it paid into your new account.

Doing this yourself wont get you the £100, the terms and conditions of getting the £100 are quite clear, they have to do all the transfers otherwise you won't get it!!!

innovate

Jox wrote: »

I think the £1000 has to be in the account for a couple of days around the first of the month.

Where do you get the information from that this is what needs to happen?

dr_adidas01

Your wrong the new terms of getting the £100 say this:

Switching to us means transferring all of your active direct debits (a minimum of two, otherwise we have the right to claim back the £100) and other regular payments, plus automated credits, e.g. your salary, into your new Halifax current account. You cannot transfer into multiple Halifax current accounts.

So this quite clearly states an automated credit must be paid into the account, does it not? Or am I just making this up and not reading the T&C's correctly?