Halifax switch offer up to £125

ValiantSon

badger09 wrote: »

OK maybe I'm not such a daft old badger as I thought;)

Deadline may not have passed. foofi22 already has a NatWest account. If it is one of the qualifying accounts, he/she still has until 16 March to switch into it and fund it:)

Yes, if there is an existing NatWest account to switch into then it should be possible. I'd advise anyone in this position to phone NatWest to confirm this.

ValiantSon

chriswright wrote: »

Hello...new to this...but keen to switch to Halifax for the offer. I have just opened a Santander Everyday current account, which I intend to switch to Halifax.
Question: do I need to wait for the debit card to come through before I switch, or can I switch without knowing my 'long number'?!

Thank you for any help.

SpanishBlue wrote: »

I was told incorrectly in my local Halifax that I couldn't switch without a debit card and was advised to contact Santander to order one.

I phoned Halifax who successfully completed the switch for me without me having a debit card.

So no, I can confirm you do not need a debit card, despite what branch staff may tell you.

If you apply to switch online it will tell you that you do need a debit card number and that you cannot switch without one. Applying over the telephone might negate this problem, but for online applications you must have a debit card.

The question of debit cards isn't about whether one has arrived or not, but rather whether the account you are switching comes with a debit card as standard (which Santander Everyday does). Wait for the debit card to arrive and then apply to switch to be sure of meeting all switching conditions. Your new debit card will arrive within seven days.

telemarks

Very happy Halifax gave me £125 today, but whats REALLY impressive is I've gone from switching virgin to reward in 6 working days! :T:T:T

The timeline is:

• Weds 14th Feb - Open new Tesco Current Account
• Sat 17th - Transfer a few quid into my new Tesco Current account, debit card arrives.
• Sun 18th - Open Halifax reward current account, start switch from Tesco to Halifax
• Mon 19th - Transfer a few quid into my Halifax
• Thurs 22nd - Halifax pay £125 incentive
• Weds 28th - Switch from Tesco to Halifax due to complete

It MAY have helped that I already had credit cards and hence online banking set up with Tesco and Halifax, but either way £125 reward in 6 days, without impacting my old bank account, is AMAZING!:j

Well done Halifax :beer:

faykceb84

I!!!8217;m new to the switching game and getting a bit addicted. My main bank account is tsb and I had two dormant Barclays accounts. I have switched one to NatWest and one is being switched to FirstDirect.

I would like to snaffle up the Halifax switch incentive before it goes but wonder if it!!!8217;s overkill. The only way I could do it would be to open another donor account and use that to switch. My question is - is this worth it? Would Barclays for example get annoyed with me opening and closing accounts.

ValiantSon

faykceb84 wrote: »

I!!!8217;m new to the switching game and getting a bit addicted. My main bank account is tsb and I had two dormant Barclays accounts. I have switched one to NatWest and one is being switched to FirstDirect.

I would like to snaffle up the Halifax switch incentive before it goes but wonder if it!!!8217;s overkill. The only way I could do it would be to open another donor account and use that to switch. My question is - is this worth it? Would Barclays for example get annoyed with me opening and closing accounts.

Only you can decide whether or not £125 is worth the effort of opening another account.

You might not get one from Barclays, however, because you have just switched two already and once the First Direct switch completes you won't be an existing customer. You could still try. You could also try opening a second account with TSB to switch that, or even try opening another NatWest account to switch that. It's best to open donor accounts with banks of whom you are already a customer, as this won't waste any potential future switch incentive.

Why worry about upsetting Barclays, you aren't a customer anymore (or soon not to be)?

faykceb84

Thanks for your quick response ValiantSon.

I still have my mortgage with Barclays and a joint mortgage account which we don’t use. I wasn’t sure whether it was worth trying to open and keep an account with Barclays in case it’s helpful in terms of mortgage rate - my feeling is not!

I think you are right opening an account with NatWest or Tsb is probs the way to go if I can be bothered to switch. It’s free money though so may be worth the hassle :j

ValiantSon

faykceb84 wrote: »

Thanks for your quick response ValiantSon.

I still have my mortgage with Barclays and a joint mortgage account which we don!!!8217;t use. I wasn!!!8217;t sure whether it was worth trying to open and keep an account with Barclays in case it!!!8217;s helpful in terms of mortgage rate - my feeling is not!

I think you are right opening an account with NatWest or Tsb is probs the way to go if I can be bothered to switch. It!!!8217;s free money though so may be worth the hassle :j

Opening an account should only take 5-10 minutes of your time, so that doubled (to open the Halifax too) would be £125 for 20 minutes "work", or put another way £375 per hour. Sounds like a pretty good use of time to me.

If the only other product you have with Barclays is a mortgage then I shouldn't worry about upsetting them. You won't get a better deal from them as a current account holder, and they won't foreclose on the mortgage because you've switched some current accounts.

Switch the joint account (has to be to a single account, but that's fine) before opening another account with NatWest or TSB as there will be one less search on your credit file and you aren't jumping through more hoops. By the way, if you do this then your "hourly rate" doubles to £750 because there will only be the one 10 minute application to Halifax.

telemarks

faykceb84 wrote: »

II would like to snaffle up the Halifax switch incentive before it goes but wonder if its overkill. The only way I could do it would be to open another donor account and use that to switch. My question is - is this worth it? .

I'd say yes!

As my post above yours, I went from no (extra) accounts, to recieving the Halifax £125 incentive within 6 working days. Thats a lot of beer tokens for under half an hours work, and worth it in my book.:beer:

Also consider it you do do this, you'll end up with another free account for quick response switching :j

18cc

I have switched several times (at least three) by ticking the box 'I dont have a debit card' (even though the account I am switching does) and the switch went through with no problems.

ValiantSon

18cc wrote: »

I have switched several times (at least three) by ticking the box 'I dont have a debit card' (even though the account I am switching does) and the switch went through with no problems.

That may well be the case, but as debit cards will arrive within seven days of account opening, it is not a great problem having to wait, and it stops the potential for them to refuse the switching bonus because (in their eyes) you were economical with the truth.