Top Bank Accounts Discussion Area

bgarnish

@Lihar
I would be careful due to Halifax's current plan to change the way their overdraft system works. They are now charging £1 per day on any overdraft balance. Martin has a top news section all about this and that switching to a 0% overdraft account like Alliance and Leicester for 12 mths is best.

LongTermLurker

bgarnish wrote: »

@Lihar
I would be careful due to Halifax's current plan to change the way their overdraft system works. They are now charging £1 per day on any overdraft balance. Martin has a top news section all about this and that switching to a 0% overdraft account like Alliance and Leicester for 12 mths is best.

That's what I meant by being always in credit. But all things aside, I still think they have the best combination of service, stable interest rates, offers and products. They're not fantastic with any of them, but they offer a good compromise across the board - just don't use your overdraft for more than 5 days a month (less than 5 days balances out with the "reward").

Lihar said he/she intends to be debt free - once that's attained, if the need for an overdraft can be contained, Halifax easily beats the anti-personnel Customer Support ethos that is A&L!

lihar

I am a she. FYI! haha. Anyway thats right i wont move to a new account until i am free of overdraft. Natwest charge similar amounts per day it seems so there is no point moving to the same situation elsewhere, I just need to stick at building up the money in my account until i can pay it all off and THEN start afresh.

Anytime ive tried calling A&L their phonelines are down. Not most reassuring news..

LongTermLurker

Hi Lihar. A&L service has a certain reputation, and it doesn't get any better if you use their online service! In contrast, Halifax call centre staff are invariably polite and their website is pretty much fully-functional. One possible drawback with the Halifax account is that you have to pay £1000 into it each month, but if that's OK then I don't think you'll have any problems with their service.

And no, I don't work for them either.

lihar

thats fine, i would pay more than that a month. good to have a future plan. hopefully by the time im overdraft free, the £5 a month offer will still be available!!

i have to wonder if you might work for them. either way i have been swayed in the directon on Halifax. Maybe you should work for them!

Baldur

lihar wrote: »

.....i have been swayed in the directon on Halifax.

Having banked with both A&L (made a rapid escape) and Halifax, you have been swayed in the right direction.

LongTermLurker

lihar wrote: »

i have to wonder if you might work for them. either way i have been swayed in the directon on Halifax. Maybe you should work for them!

No, I don't work for any financial company, or indeed have anything to do with finance. But I've been with them for over 30 years and the only time I "fell out" with them was when they started introducing charges to use other banks' cash machines - I still kept my account unused, and I think a lot of people must have done the same because they quickly dropped the fees. They're not even my main bank at the moment, because I'm using First Direct.

I've not been with FD long enough to comment, but they seem good and you might consider trying them instead if they are still doing the £100 promotion. I think they need £1500/month though.

blueberrypie

LongTermLurker wrote: »

One possible drawback with the Halifax account is that you have to pay £1000 into it each month,

...in order to qualify for the £5 Reward Payment.

There's no penalty for *not* paying in £1000 in any calendar month - you just don't get the fiver.

(And it doesn't have to be £1000 all at once, so you can pay in £500, take it out and put it in again...or do the same ten times with £100, but there is a point at which it's more work than a fiver's worth!)

Cazza57

Hello,
Was recently advised to change Our Halifax current account to the £5 a month one then the nice CS lady told me and my husband to open personal accounts (our original one is joint) and pay £1000 a month in from joint account to get extra interest. £1000 only has to be in for 24hrs to earn £5 per month. Have set up standing orders for £1000 to go from joint to husbands for 24 hrs to mine for 24hrs and back to joint account. £180 per year for doing this!
Long live this offer!

blueberrypie

Cazza57 wrote: »

Hello,
Was recently advised to change Our Halifax current account to the £5 a month one then the nice CS lady told me and my husband to open personal accounts (our original one is joint) and pay £1000 a month in from joint account to get extra interest. £1000 only has to be in for 24hrs to earn £5 per month.

It doesn't even have to be in for that long - a few seconds will do!

Have set up standing orders for £1000 to go from joint to husbands for 24 hrs to mine for 24hrs and back to joint account. £180 per year for doing this!
Long live this offer!

With standing orders, be careful: they're usually only paid on working days, so if the SO is set up for a Saturday or Sunday, you might find it goes out of the account before the other SO goes in, putting you in an unauthorised overdraft. (Also some banks send SOs by BACS, so they're not instant transfers - they can take about three days to show on the credited account.) Personally, I just do the transfers on-line - with Faster Payments, it all happens almost instantly, and takes less than five minutes once a month. If you really want to use SOs, I'd recommend leaving at least three or four days between the paying-in SO and the back-out SO.