Halifax - EasyCash forced upgrade - where to now?

Aramil

Hi,

So some history (many many...) years ago I opened A Halifax EasyCash account for the simple reasons that it was a basic bank account, with no overdraft options, no complex unwanted rewards or fees. I have one direct debit (mobile (fixed)) and everything else I manage myself (because I prefer to manage my money myself), I also have a Credit Card with them (which has had it limit increased several times, but is always paid in full (back to £0.00) & on time). I have a Good credit rating with no issues.

This month I receive a letter saying that as of the end of June they are "upgrading....." all EasyCash accounts to Rewards Accounts..

So I call them (shout "human being" to the menu system until I am put through to an advisor(a human being)).

After some time disscussing the fact I do not want a rerwards account (because its a rewards account and not a basic account) I am advised (told....) that I have no choice, and they will not offer me a basic account instead.
The conversation ended with me being told I should take my money elsewhere......

So does any Bank do a basic account you can actually apply for?

And should I look to take my CC business to a CC company? (NB. not interested in rewards/points/etc, only used to get CC protection on purchases).

*/end mild rant*

EarthBoy

Aramil wrote: »

So does any Bank do a basic account you can actually apply for?

Some do, but the majority of banks will only give basic accounts to people who don't qualify for an ordinary current account. Even if you apply for a basic account, if they decide, like Halifax have done, that you qualify for an ordinary account, they won't let you have a basic account.

18cc

Is it possible you could say why you want to stay with a basic account ie what is it about a non-basic account that you don't like. If, for example, it is that you don't want to be able to go overdrawn, then look at Starling bank (and others) that have a slider that you can set to overdraft to zero. But, as I say, hard to help if we are not sure what you don't like about non-basic accounts.

Aramil

Thanks for the replies:

EarthBoy wrote: »

Some do, but the majority of banks will only give basic accounts to people who don't qualify for an ordinary current account. Even if you apply for a basic account, if they decide, like Halifax have done, that you qualify for an ordinary account, they won't let you have a basic account.

Yeah I have noticed that. It was the reason I went with Halifax in the first place as at the time I could choose, which account I wanted.

18cc wrote: »

Is it possible you could say why you want to stay with a basic account ie what is it about a non-basic account that you don't like. If, for example, it is that you don't want to be able to go overdrawn, then look at Starling bank (and others) that have a slider that you can set to overdraft to zero. But, as I say, hard to help if we are not sure what you don't like about non-basic accounts.

It's not an issue of being overdrawn, I always leave a buffer in my account (just in case).
I just want a bank account, you know " a place to put your money so the bad men (not the bankers, the other bad men) can't take it.

I don't see why I should consent to being constantly reviewed and credit checked for a lending facility I do not want, I know that on some accounts you can have it not active or set at zero, but it does not remove the lending from the T&Cs or the consent to keep reviewing and checking even when not in use/dissabled.
Might not be a big thing to some people, but I am very OCD about lending/banking and not blindly giving consent for things hidden in T&Cs. I like to keep my digital footprint and noise down to as little as possible.

20aday

I appreciate you were told by CS that they wouldn!!!8217;t offer you a Basic Account but looking at their website it states you might be able to convert an EasyCash account online to a Basic Account if you!!!8217;re registered for their Online Banking facility?

mt99

Thanks for explaining that and yes I completely understand and I'm kinda with you on that I know what you mean when you say you don't want bank accounts to track you and credits score you and so on

You could always try something like the Lloyds Bank classic account or nationnwide flex account or even the TSB accounts I have found them pretty good once it's setup they sort of leave you alone. there may be others of course.

davethorp

It!!!8217;s possible to operate the reward account without access to any kind of borrowing. I have 2 reward accounts neither of which have any kind of overdraft facility, the contactless cards work online in most places (thanks MSE and their stupid campaign to have contactless cards not work as intended for that one) and I don!!!8217;t even earn rewards on them because I don!!!8217;t pay in the minimum pay in

Halifax aren!!!8217;t going to start chucking credit at you unless you ask for it and the reward account costs nothing to use and may even reward you with £3 a month if you use it but you don!!!8217;t have to use the account in a way that qualifies you for the £3 reward if you don!!!8217;t want to. Then it will operate just like their old current account used to

A lot of banks will only open basic accounts if you don!!!8217;t meet their criteria for a full account which from what you say in the OP you probably will meet the criteria for full accounts at most banks.

You could look at some of the app based banks possibly most of which force transactions online regardless of your credit rating so no chance of being charged any fees unless you intentionally go overdrawn. But I!!!8217;m really struggling to understand why you wouldn!!!8217;t just take the account upgrade from Halifax. Reward is a far better account overall than easycash or basic and you don!!!8217;t have to open yourself up to the possibility of overdrafts or other fees unless you want to plus you could earn £3 a month for doing nothing if you meet the reward criteria

Many banks will still receive a monthly feed about you from the credit reference agencies even if you have a basic account. These don!!!8217;t show as searches on your credit file regardless of the account type you hold with them

AirlieBird

Virgin Money only offer a basic bank account so you could try them if you have a Virgin Money near you.

Consumerist

I think the truth is that banks don't like opening accounts where they can't trip you up. They like the possibility, however unlikely, to charge overdraft and other fees to make the account pay.

If you take your eye of the banks for just a second they will take every opportunity to jump on you and they will be within their rights according to their Ts & Cs.

Don't become ill or die with a standard bank account.

pinkdalek

Consumerist wrote: »

I think the truth is that banks don't like opening accounts where they can't trip you up. They like the possibility, however unlikely, to charge overdraft and other fees to make the account pay.

If you take your eye of the banks for just a second they will take every opportunity to jump on you and they will be within their rights according to their Ts & Cs.

Don't become ill or die with a standard bank account.

Halifax don't charge for unauthorised overdrafts or failed direct debits and standing orders.

Consumerist

pinkdalek wrote: »

Halifax don't charge for unauthorised overdrafts or failed direct debits and standing orders.

The Lloyds Group have led the way but I haven't seen any rush by other banks to follow suit.