My Dads Halifax and Bank of Scotland accounts closed for the free £5 ?

knack92

7sefton wrote: »

This thread has shocked me and left we very worried.

I have had 3 Halifax Reward accounts since they first came on the market years ago. I cycle my salary around them each month, have 2 Tesco savings Direct Debits on them, and take the £5 each month. There are 4 transactions a month, and all look identical.

I also have a BOS Vantage account that I use for bills, and a Club Lloyds account that I use as my main bank account.

Obviously I like getting the £5s each month, but I really do not want to have my other accounts closed or be blacklisted against all of Lloyds Banking Group (I like the brands, find they offer convenient products, and am worried if my credit file would be blacklisted). I also may apply for a job at LBG in the future, so don't want to put this at risk either!

I never thought I'd do this, but I'm now seriously considering closing 2 of my Halifax Reward accounts so I'm within both the spirit and letter of the T&Cs.

Am I over reacting? Or is this the beginning of the end for the Reward account as us MoneySavers know it?

I find this concerning too. If it's the beginning of the end of these current accounts then I guess you just have to accept that but I think I'd prefer that to getting a letter saying your accounts will be closed (with no reason stated).

If the suppositions are correct that these closures are due to customers only using the accounts for interest then I presume their systems will flag for review accounts meeting a certain criteria. So carrying out other transactions might be a good idea?

MABLE

I do a similar thing. However I use Cahoot and Nationwide to pay money into the Lloyds Club card account and Halifax to qualify for the goodies. At least that shows as
FPI and by recycling internally just comes up with TRF. Whether that makes any difference time will no doubt tell.

However I remember when I went into a branch and they said to meet the criteria
for Club account you can pay in £1500 and withdraw straight away. So by using an external account hopefully will not cause me any issues and as already said would show up as a faster payment in.

joe134

knack92 wrote: »

I find this concerning too. If it's the beginning of the end of these current accounts then I guess you just have to accept that but I think I'd prefer that to getting a letter saying your accounts will be closed (with no reason stated).

If the suppositions are correct that these closures are due to customers only using the accounts for interest then I presume their systems will flag for review accounts meeting a certain criteria. So carrying out other transactions might be a good idea?

In that case, a lot of us are in for a shock.Surely, they knew that offering these rates, and, allowing multiple a/cs was going to encourage the use of them. Santander pretty much the same123 A/c's.?
It is rather concerning though, no one wants blackballing, for a few pounds.;Nothing illegal with what's happening.? Why offer such BIG incentives in the first place.? To start doing something unusual, transaction wise, would probably cause MORE alarm bells than leaving well alone.They Monitor unusual transactions more than, normal ones.? Catch 22.T/c's are always in the banks favour, need to be a lawyer to understand them;
I think maybe closing them all, not, leave any open, no point in having one of each ( for me anyway ), and using the money elsewhere, might be the prudent thing.? Me too.

Frogletina

I've just checked my Bank of Scotland accounts and I've not had my interest this month.

Further checking has shown I forgot to transfer the minimum amount in during April. Not sure how I forgot to do that, but cross as it means a loss of about £18 in interest.

Usually I manually transfer at the beginning of the month - must have marked my spreadsheet as done when it wasn't.

Looks like I might not benefit much longer if this BOS are going to close accounts. One I use for all of my holiday spending but the other one is fully funded and I don't spend from it at all. My Halifax account has 2 direct debits on it and I did the transfer to that account so have got my £5.

frogletina

joe134

Frogletina wrote: »

I've just checked my Bank of Scotland accounts and I've not had my interest this month.

Further checking has shown I forgot to transfer the minimum amount in during April. Not sure how I forgot to do that, but cross as it means a loss of about £18 in interest.

Usually I manually transfer at the beginning of the month - must have marked my spreadsheet as done when it wasn't.

Looks like I might not benefit much longer if this BOS are going to close accounts. One I use for all of my holiday spending but the other one is fully funded and I don't spend from it at all. My Halifax account has 2 direct debits on it and I did the transfer to that account so have got my £5.

frogletina

Could be because it's a bank holiday?Tuesday ;;
I set up SO's on all my" a/cs" ( umpteen ) ,then, leave well alone.MY spread would be quite lengthy, and confusing;.
my memory would cost me a fortune:rotfl:
Halifax and BOS are still linked, and I have several A/cs with Halifax, BUT, not the current A/c,( only one I haven't got),several Isas, and 3 BOS vantage,, so maybe they may turn a blind eye.:(
Wishful thinking.
The letters I've read on here from the bank, seem to signify something other than just having multiple A/cs , to me.:;Perhaps, there's more to them ?? otherwise, this blog would be inundated with them, not just one or two, over a 12 month period..

Carnival789

i sincerely hope its not just a question of the multiple accounts thing, but my interpretation of what has been said is that it could well be this reason alone.

i know people will jump in here and say "well its in the Ts and Cs you signed that they can shut your account if they want etc etc" . that may well be true, but its not as if anyone is taking money off the banks fraudulently - we all comply with the incentive-qualifying terms by paying in certain amounts and having DDs and so on.

its one thing to close down peoples incentive-based accounts if they are not being used as the bank intended (although even then i find it a bit "toys-out-of-pram") but it seems like a huge over-reaction to bar that person as a customer completely.

will be interesting to see if this kind of thread becomes a more regular feature over the coming months...

Yorkshire_Pud

So it seems that one or two people in the UK as far as being reported on this forum have had all their Halifax BOS and /or LBG accounts closed and been barred as customers just for being rate tarts!?

How likely is this really, even this tarting isnt going to impact much on the banks profits versus losing customers who are their life blood.

Whilst I don't want to doubt the theoretical reason for accounts of about 2 people in the UK being closed there has realistically got to be more to it, hasn't there? Really? Maybe even a mistake by the bank.

I will try and contain my hysteria for now and carry on as normal.

Just be sensible.

anoncol

joe134 wrote: »

Could be because it's a bank holiday?Tuesday ;;
I set up SO's on all my" a/cs" ( umpteen ) ,then, leave well alone.MY spread would be quite lengthy, and confusing;.
my memory would cost me a fortune:rotfl:
Halifax and BOS are still linked, and I have several A/cs with Halifax, BUT, not the current A/c,( only one I haven't got),several Isas, and 3 BOS vantage,, so maybe they may turn a blind eye.:(
Wishful thinking.
The letters I've read on here from the bank, seem to signify something other than just having multiple A/cs , to me.:;Perhaps, there's more to them ?? otherwise, this blog would be inundated with them, not just one or two, over a 12 month period..

What blog?

joe134

Yorkshire_Pud wrote: »

So it seems that one or two people in the UK as far as being reported on this forum have had all their LBG accounts closed and been barred as customers just for being rate tarts!?

How likely is this really, even this tarting isnt going to impact much on the banks profits versus losing customers who are their life blood.

Whilst I don't want to doubt the theoretical reason for accounts of about 2 people in the UK being closed there has realistically got to be more to it, hasn't there? Really? Maybe even a mistake by the bank.

I will try and contain my hysteria for now and carry on as normal.

Just be sensible.

After digesting the posts, I'm of the same opinion. I will move if more evolve, rather than being pushed, IF, I have the opportunity.The banks don't seem to give you a choice.There has to be more to it with the few banned accounts;When I applied for mine, I did it via phone, one, per day, they knew I had multiple accounts, I told them,they said it's OK, that's why they said I could only have one per day. Who uses 3 currents accounts, if not for the rewards.? They credit checked each one , so they showed up, so, bit late to say, I'm not complying with the T/c's or the spirit of them, 12 months later..

Graham1

If they are doing this I suggest the best defence is to make sure each account you hold is used for some real banking (standing orders, purchases with debit card etc.) each month. Then any automated process they might have to identify "abusive" accounts are much less likely to flag your account.