Switching to Co-Operative bank account from Halifax

The_Boss

Hi all,

I'm planning on switching my current account from Halifax to the Co-operative to take advantage of the £150 incentive plus ongoing monthly incentive. Had two questions though :

1) This account is showing on Top Cashback with a cashback incentive of £50 for clicking through and applying/being accepted. If I do this will I qualify for both the £150 from Co-Op and £50 from Top Cashback?

2) I have a Halifax Clarity Card (credit card) along with my current account. I'd like to keep this for use abroad due to the fees - I assume Co-Op will issue an instruction to close my Halifax current account as part of the switch, but will this also close the Clarity Card account too?

YorkshireBoy

1) Possibly, since others have with previous offers.

2) No it won't.

The_Boss

THanks.

Also what is the definition of an active direct debit? I have more than 4 of these set up on my Halifax account but only three are collected each month - the others are an annual payment in October, a quarterly payment (ad hoc) and monthly repayment via Barclaycard that was last made in November as I've had a zero balance since then.

Update : they've said the direct debits need to go through within 30 days of the switch so presumably if I buy something on my Barclaycard, hits the statement on August 5 and then gets collected on 28 August then that meets the criteria for 4?

The_Boss

...also how long do I have to switch?

LXdaddy

The_Boss wrote: »

THanks.

Also what is the definition of an active direct debit? I have more than 4 of these set up on my Halifax account but only three are collected each month - the others are an annual payment in October, a quarterly payment (ad hoc) and monthly repayment via Barclaycard that was last made in November as I've had a zero balance since then.

Update : they've said the direct debits need to go through within 30 days of the switch so presumably if I buy something on my Barclaycard, hits the statement on August 5 and then gets collected on 28 August then that meets the criteria for 4?

For the coop you need 4 DDs to actually payout within the calendar month to get the everyday reward (assuming that is what you are referencing) Active in this sense means have a transaction within the period.

YorkshireBoy

So long as there are 4 active (which in this case means not dormant, ie able to be called upon...see the definition on the BACS website) DDs on the Halifax account, and they're successfully switched, you'll get your £150 switching incentive. So if you were told you had to pay the DDs out before you got the incentive, and especially if you were told "within 30 days", you were lied to!

As LXdaddy says above, the Everyday Rewards are a totally different thing. You can register for Everyday Rewards at any time in the future (if still available obviously!) and start to earn up to £5.50 a month. If you then don't pay out 4 DDs you won't get the Reward...no penalties...no nothing...you'll still be registered. All that will happen is you'll get a monthly email saying why you have not qualified.

The_Boss

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

So long as there are 4 active (which in this case means not dormant, ie able to be called upon...see the definition on the BACS website) DDs on the Halifax account, and they're successfully switched, you'll get your £150 switching incentive. So if you were told you had to pay the DDs out before you got the incentive, and especially if you were told "within 30 days", you were lied to!

As LXdaddy says above, the Everyday Rewards are a totally different thing. You can register for Everyday Rewards at any time in the future (if still available obviously!) and start to earn up to £5.50 a month. If you then don't pay out 4 DDs you won't get the Reward...no penalties...no nothing...you'll still be registered. All that will happen is you'll get a monthly email saying why you have not qualified.

Thanks. It's the £150 I'm most interested in at present. Im looking at the BACs website and can't find a definition of active...although I did find this which would seem to confirm that I do have 4 active set up http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=70387271&postcount=2

I have a Vodafone, Virgin Money and Halifax direct debit that collect each month. In addition I have a Paypal Direct Debit set up, which was last paid on 27 July after an online purchase. In my Halifax account it lists that as a Quarterly payment though - but presumably this qualifies as active therefore?

The Barclaycard direct debit last collected in November 2015 but is still showing as there in my Halifax current account. I actually bought lunch with it today, so it can collect in future.

Yesterday I requested a direct debit be set up on my Tesco credit card account - assuming this goes through in time to collect on my next statement (date of which is 6 August, to be collected around the 28th August) - and I know it may not go through - then would this count as active even though it hasn't collected yet?

For the Everyday Rewards I'm going to spend a small sum on my Barclaycard and/or Tesco card each month to bring the number that collect to 4 - but presumably I can set up more on my new account in the future and these qualify?

The_Boss

Right, new question. The switch came into effect last Tuesday. On Saturday I received a letter from Halifax saying that my direct debit on my old account has been cancelled as part of the switch process will NOT collect for the next payment (start of September) and will only pick up from my statement generated on 6 September/be paid end of September.

I'm not best pleased at this, because I thought that switching would mean that all of my direct debits are still collected as per usual. Why in this case will Halifax not collect the direct debit payment from my new account on 4 September?

Yorkshire_Pud

Why would Halifax collect your DD on 6th September? You left them.
Did you mean Co-op?

Is it possible the recipient of the cancelled DD does not allow a switch to another account and therefore expects you to set a new one up with them? Best ask the recipient?

Not sure I understand our post properly but hope my repl gives you a few ideas!

The_Boss

Yorkshire_Pud wrote: »

Why would Halifax collect your DD on 6th September? You left them.
Did you mean Co-op?

Is it possible the recipient of the cancelled DD does not allow a switch to another account and therefore expects you to set a new one up with them? Best ask the recipient?

Not sure I understand our post properly but hope my repl gives you a few ideas!

From what I understood, when I transfered my current account to The Co-Operative they also transfer my direct debits for my credit cards as I did not cancel them, just moved them. Halifax's letter is treating it as a cancellation, then re-setting it up, meaning it won't collect my next payment.

Co-Operative's switching section says "The Current Account Switch Guarantee means you don’t need to worry about missing bill payments or having to redirect Direct Debits." - is this not the case then?

This will also affect my ability to transfer 4 active direct debits if my direct debit has been cancelled and then re set up.

YorkshireBoy

Are the DDIs showing up at Co-op? They should have been there nearly a week ago.

Who's the DD originator? Is it Halifax for one of their credit cards?