Halifax Web Saver/IF Current Account

SteveBentley

I'm about to buy a car and I'm trying to work out the best way to get my hands on the means of paying. The dealer's website says that they'll accept credit cards for the deposit but not the balance (just over £4k) because of the bank charges. They don't mention debit cards but state that their preferred means of payment is bankers draft or building society cheque.

I have sufficient funds in my current account (yes I do keep most of my savings in my current account but that's not as daft as it seems - I have a sweep arrangement which makes the mortgage cheaper, so I don't earn interest on it anyway) but as it's an online account I can't get hold of a bankers draft.

I could transfer the money to my Web Saver account, but because it's an online account, I can't use the branch counter - last time I tried this the guy swiped my card and computer said no. Which would be fine if I wanted to do something I could do online or at the ATM, but the machine will only give me £300 a day.

Anyone have any suggestions on what I do if I can't pay with my debit card? I'm guessing CHAPS is an option.

Oh and memo to the Halifax - people tend to use SAVINGS accounts to accumulate money for large purchases. How about making it possible to get hold of more than £300 of MY money at a time?

[Deleted User]

I've always been able to use a debit card to pay car dealers. It was even one of the reasons I opened a Halifax moneyback current account! The fees that the company pays for debit card transactions are much much lower than for credit cards hence they accept them. Think it's cleared funds too so is better than a cheque for them.

regularsaver1

The idea of the websaver is that you transfer between this and your bank account in order to have access to it. You can them write a cheque from your bank account.

I take it that you have the websaver with the card which is paying the lower rate. there is no need if you transfer between the bank account for access to the funds

derrick

I would certainly pay a deposit with the credit card, as it gives you extra protection under the consumer credit act 1974, section 75, it does not matter how much you pay on the CC, as long as the value of the item/service is between £100-30000.

SteveBentley

Thanks for the advice guys, turns out that they will accept the debit card for the balance. Good advice about the credit card for the deposit!