Halifax Reward Account changing to £3 charge with “lifestyle rewards”

General_Grant

RN61 said:

Notepad_Phil said:

Mrs Notepad and myself have both opened a new Reward account each to get the £100 switching bonus (which has now appeared in our accounts) but Mrs Notepad is having some issues with getting the tracker to recognise the money that she has paid in.

I had thought that money coming into it from its sister bank Bank of Scotland would count towards the £1500 monthly contribution to make the account fee-free, but it seems I may be wrong as a sum that was put in yesterday (and transferred out a minute or so later) has not appeared on the tracker when she looks today.

I've just looked again and still can't see anything which says the money has to come from outside the banking group, so is this just a problem for Mrs Notepad or is this expected?

"sum that was put in yesterday (and transferred out a minute or so later)"?

 Money in and out so quickly might trigger alarm bells their end #moneylaundering #systemgaming resulting in enquiry and account closure. There could also be chance of said payment not triggering the reward, especially if online system is under maintenance like the other weekend when all payments in and out were forward-dated to the following Tuesday (6th April)! I suggest leaving the money in at least overnight, and longer in event forward-dating occurs again to make sure dates in and out recorded are different. NB. I avoid moving exactly 1500 in and out for similar reasons, add random couple of pounds and pennies

It wasn't a question of the online system being "under maintenance" but the fact that it was the Easter weekend and both the Friday before and Monday 5th April were BANK HOLIDAYS, so the first bank working day after 1 April was 6 April.

Nick_C

polymaff said:

I guess that I'm pretty typical.  £X in, wait a few seconds, £X out.  It has worked for years - and no sign of money laundering issues, nor of the same-day meaning that the transactions were discounted.

Just got our 2*£100 from Halifax.  Not a bad rate for about 20 minutes work - plus all those £5 to come. ...

I would have though typical use would be £1500 in, £500 or more out by debit card to pay of a credit card, and any balance transferred back to your main account.

That is not going to look like money laundering.  It is going to look like gaming the system, but Halifax don't seem to be too bothered about that at present.

YorkshireBoy

TOP_CAT said:

Over 10 or is it 11 years later...  

Early takers were active from 9th Feb 2009 so over 12 years now. Time flies!

polymaff

@Nick-C:

Indeed, there's more than one way to skin a cat.  When I'm processing a lot of accounts the £X in comes from somewhere else and then a similar amount goes on to somewhere else.  Similar because I maybe leaving, say, £20 to cover a similar event generating DD transactions.

This daisy-chaining makes the process more efficient.  The choce of the date for this hour's-worth of transaction is chosen to fit dates when those accounts must be left with funds to process Regulars that must be host-funded - and try to avoid Fridays so that FPS is given its maximimum possible delay and still not land on a non-working day.

I process Halifax DC transactions on a Monday - so that there are the minimum non-working days.

colsten

portenio said:

Did anyone receive a letter, email or other about the expiration of the offer and what the options will be when that moment arrives?

Had renewal reminders in the post today, for rewards expiring 31 May, even though my accounts are set to paperless, and I have already renewed, too.

So they are definitely informing people in good time when their reward year is drawing to a close.

orange-juice

- Has anyone held 2 or more of these Reward account as a single account/name?

- for the £500 monthly spending to meet part of the £5 reward eligibility criteria, has anyone tried buying 500 premium bonds and does that count?

Wasn't sure how to search this specific thread so apologies if this has been answered before.

soulsaver

1orange-juice said:

1- Has anyone held 2 or more of these Reward account as a single account/name?

2- for the £500 monthly spending to meet part of the £5 reward eligibility criteria, has anyone tried buying 500 premium bonds and does that count?

Wasn't sure how to search this specific thread so apologies if this has been answered before.

1)Yes - but that doesn't guarantee it'll work for you.

2) Anything that you have to give/key the DC long numbers for appears to work, so yes as long as you buy them using the Debit Card, it will work. Note, as it will for savings acs if they accept deposits by DC.

ZeroSum

I've got 2, but it's a legacy thing from when you were allowed a few.

SpanishBlue

I only opened a 2nd account fairly recently (3 or 4 months ago.)

I understand the system will allow me to open a 3rd, but I'm reluctant to do so as they might downgrade one of my accounts and I lose out on the £5 a month.

Having said that, the £100 bonus, plus yet another £5 a month - it's a gamble I am considering.

I would be interested to know if anyone else has recently open a 3rd account to get the £100 bonus, without any issues.

funkycredit

I've got 3x Rewards, as do a few others. Unlikely you'll be downgraded as it's all done via online banking with no credit search so instantly opened too. 

If it shows the option to open one then go for it. Mine doesn't now - but I've got 3 and had them 8 months with no issues. 

To meet the £500 spend, I just send the wife £500 via PayPal to family (no fee) on each card then she withdraws it into my account again.