Halifax Reward account - commitment

alecs

I've just opened a Halifax Reward account mainly to get the £100, but will keep it open as I want to have a 2nd account. For how long do I have to keep the direct debits on the Halifax account, is there a minimum commitment period? I don't mind using it for one year or so, but need to know if there's any minimum period required.

Also, I currently have my salary and child benefit paid into my Barclays account. Do they switch those too? And if not, do I have to switch them? Or I can just transfer the money each month to the Halifax account?

Last but not least, I have a lot of direct debits which will be transferred to the Halifax acct using their switch service, but the account offer says 'a minimum of 2'. Can I move all direct debits back to the Barclays acct and only keep two direct debits with Halifax? And if yes, can I do it right away or I have to wait for a while?

Sorry for the multiple questions!

Smoggie69

At least 2 direct debits have to be taken from the account every month if you want to receive the £5 reward each month. You also have to pay in at least £750 a month. Less than 2 direct debits and £750 paid in means no £5. There's nothing to stop you transferring the £750 back to Barclays again, but it needs to be in the Halifax account overnight.

If you have chosen to switch accounts they will usually switch everything. They should send you a list to confirm whether any are missing.

You can move all but 2 direct debits back to Barclays if you wish. You just need to contact each company individually to change their records. I'd wait until they are registered on your Halifax account before changing, as this may confuse matters.

latecomer

My £750 ( or in my case £1000 as thats what I've always done) per month stays in for as long as it takes me to log in after transferring it from my other account - approx 2 minutes on average, certainly not overnight.

alecs

Thanks, this is great advice! I have a mortgage, contents insurance and a Clarity card with Halifax so I'm thinking to keep those three direct debits on the Reward acct. My mortgage is more than £750 so I don't need to transfer back funds to Barclays each month. My plan is to keep Barclays as my main account, fund the Halifax Reward with the mortgage and contents insurance amounts each month just before the DDs go out...

Now hopefully all direct debits will be moved before the 1st of June when they're due to be taken from my acct, is that a realistic timeframe? I've literally just applied for the Halifax acct today.

pinkdalek

Why don't you just use the Barclays account now as your 2nd account and leave your direct debits coming out of the Halifax so everything is paid through one account?

What is it that Barclays offer you by banking with them that other banks do not? I really don't understand the hassle of switching all but two back, surely that is just causing more work for you?

alecs

I'm a happy Barclays customer. I've had only good experiences with them. Same with Halifax, actually. So I'll keep both. I find Barclays very good for online banking, Halifax is rather limited. And Barclays' overdraft conditions are more palatable. Etc

System

If that suits, why not use the Halifax for your direct debits and use Barclays for general spending? I know i wouldn't want DDs spread across multiple accounts.

alecs

I have a £2000 overdraft limit with Barclays (of which £300 is interest free) and although I don't usually go into overdraft it's good to have it there just in case. Lat year I used overdraft once, when I moved - but paid it the same monthh.

So I'd put the bulk of the DDs and spending on Barclays, and put the mortgage and contents insurance payments on Halifax as they're fixed amounts and don't risk to go OD on Halifax at all.

It's funny actually, we're talking hypotetically as I applied for the Halifax acct yesterday but I don't know whether the application was succesful yet (did it online and didn't get approved instantly, not sure if I was supposed to). Given that I have a mortgage and a CC with them, I hope they'll approve the banking account :-)

alecs

So today I got approved for the Reward account (it shows when I log in to Halifax as I have a CC and mortgage with them so had an acct online) but there are no direct debits listed, although I ticked the 'switch debits' box. Do they take a while to appear? Also when are they paying the £100 reward? I already sent over £750 to the acct.

Also it shows £0 overdraft limit although I think I requested some £100 just in case..

dalesrider

alecs wrote: »

So today I got approved for the Reward account (it shows when I log in to Halifax as I have a CC and mortgage with them so had an acct online) but there are no direct debits listed, although I ticked the 'switch debits' box. Do they take a while to appear? . .

They need to request the DD's from Barclays and will then send you the list asking if it is correct.
Then they will transfer them over..

So they will not appear for a while yet.

Just make sure you have enough funds in BOTH accounts to cover the DD's.