Question on switching

savingmoolah

Evening folks!

I'm considering ditching my HSBC account and moving to Halifax for their reward account. I've never done the 7-day switch, so I have a few questions:

1)
Lets say I apply for the new account on Monday morning and it's accepted. Do I need to speak to HSBC at all?

2) What is the best way to make sure all my money transfers correctly? I do need to put my E-ISA savings back into my main account first? I also have a credit card with £300 left to pay on it with HSBC - do I need to finish paying that off first before moving or would HSBC make a me a credit card with the same limit left etc?

3) Would I need to draw money out of my account the day before to see me through the week, or can I still withdraw from a cash machine/buy things online as normal during the switch?


Any help on this would be greatly appreciated!

Ed-1

savingmoolah wrote: »

Evening folks!

I'm considering ditching my HSBC account and moving to Halifax for their reward account. I've never done the 7-day switch, so I have a few questions:

1)
Lets say I apply for the new account on Monday morning and it's accepted. Do I need to speak to HSBC at all?

No. You just put in a switch request at Halifax to switch from HSBC and they'll do the rest.

savingmoolah wrote: »

2) What is the best way to make sure all my money transfers correctly? I do need to put my E-ISA savings back into my main account first? I also have a credit card with £300 left to pay on it with HSBC - do I need to finish paying that off first before moving or would HSBC make a me a credit card with the same limit left etc?

You can only switch a current account to a current account. Any other accounts such as credit card accounts or savings accounts (ISAs) will be unaffected by a current account switch.

savingmoolah wrote: »

3) Would I need to draw money out of my account the day before to see me through the week, or can I still withdraw from a cash machine/buy things online as normal during the switch?

Only the current account being switched out will close on the switch date (day 7) and on this day any money in the old account will be send to the new account with Halifax. During the switch you can use the old account as normal.

GTR_King

When you switch banks... Say you opened account on Monday (Halifax) and got accepted. If you opened it online you will get email saying you have been accepted and few details about the account and when you get all your stuff e.g debit card etc...

No when you switch banks Halifax will speak to HSBC and all your money/dd/wages etc will move to your new account. best to put all your money into the HSB Current account ready for the switch

YorkshireBoy

1) No, subject to 2) below.


2) You need to check your E-ISA and credit card T&Cs to see if either are reliant on you holding an HSBC current account.


3) You can use your debit card right up to the day before the switch completion date.

colsten

Don't switch before you have your Halifax debit card and online access to your new account.

It doesn't matter if your new account sits empty for a few days but it would matter if your switch was completed and you didn't have access to your money.

colsten

Don't forget to go via Quidco when opening the Halifax account, for some £40 on top of the £100.

YorkshireBoy

colsten wrote: »

Don't forget to go via Quidco when opening the Halifax account, for some £40 on top of the £100.

...but be quick, as that offer expires at the end of this coming week.

savingmoolah

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to read my message and reply, very helpful indeed.

New Year's res. was to sort my finances out and improve them, so getting £100 and £5 a month just for having a bank account (I do fit their criteria) seemed like a good way to start!