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

SuiDreams

PRAISETHESUN said:

SuiDreams said:

ppyim said:

I may use Halifax debit card to pay Amex credit card to meet the requirement of spending over £500 each month.

I hadn't thought of that, would need to cancel my DD if I paid manually each month, need to check T&C's for if there are any exclusions.

Nothing to stop you making a manual payment of £500 every month and then letting your DD pull the remainder - assuming Amex doesn't automatically pull the entire statement balance regardless of any additional payments you make.

Unfortunately Amex do take the full balance despite any additional payments so would need to pay the full amount manually

ppyim

SuiDreams said:

PRAISETHESUN said:

SuiDreams said:

ppyim said:

I may use Halifax debit card to pay Amex credit card to meet the requirement of spending over £500 each month.

I hadn't thought of that, would need to cancel my DD if I paid manually each month, need to check T&C's for if there are any exclusions.

Nothing to stop you making a manual payment of £500 every month and then letting your DD pull the remainder - assuming Amex doesn't automatically pull the entire statement balance regardless of any additional payments you make.

Unfortunately Amex do take the full balance despite any additional payments so would need to pay the full amount manually

 I currently have DD for Amex which takes only minimum payments of £25, though I manually pay the remaining balance after DD.

PS, sorry I think you are correct and I misunderstood it. My setup of Amex DD is mimimum payment only. 

northwalesd

I haven't received the letter yet, but based on the OP I (well, we, it'[s a joint account) don't qualify for either the fee waiver or the £5 reward - the account is used to pay bills by DD, very rarely will I withdraw cash, only ever if I have a bill to pay where the recipient requires cash (so that's probably about twice a year). Never use the debit card, apart from the aforementioned cash withdrawals. So, it's either wait for it to convert to a regular account, or look for something else.

chelseablue

I have this account, myself and husband transfer money into it to cover the household bills and food shopping. £1,600 goes in each month. But we dont spend anywhere near £500 on the debit card.
So, in my case I presume it's better to not contact them and let it convert to the bog standard current account? 

Ed-1

colsten said:

There are a few savings accounts, as well as investment accounts, that can be fed with debit cards. I haven't yet seen the Halifax T&Cs, so am not sure whether such payments would be eligible for the £500/mth debit card spend. Here are the ones I know of, anyway:

SAVINGS: KRBS, YBS and HL Active Savings

INVESTMENTS: just about all platforms

Savings: Skipton, Post Office too.

Lumiona

I've decided to switch from Halifax, going to FD for the £100 switch reward which covers 4yrs worth of £2 monthly reward I'm getting currently. The new set up won't work for me and I already hoop jump enough with various transfers going in and out of banks so this will simplify my accounts. The only thing I'll miss is the mobile cheque depositing but I believe HSBC has this so I'll use that when my switch completes later in the month.

magoo289

Hugely disappointed with this change. I’ve banked with Halifax for 24 years. I won’t meet the debit card criteria as only use DC when I’m charged for using my CC.  I’ll switch but will likely keep current account open to transfer £1,500 in and out every month as I’ve a regular savings account. Plus I got my parents and one of my sisters to switch years ago to get the ‘monthly interest’. I’ll have to get them to think about switching.

[Deleted User]

Think I will keep my Halifax Reward on following strategy:-
Starting on 1st June 2020:-
(1) Transfer £1500 into the account at beginning of month. This will avoid the £3 monthly fee.
(2) Immediately transfer £1000 back out again.
(3) Log onto Post Office online savings and arrange to deposit £500 using Halifax Reward debit card.
(4) Once the £500 appears in Post Office savings account, move it out to nominated account.
(5) Receive £5 monthly reward into Halifax Reward account, beating current £2 reward.

There will be a few days while the £500 is "lost" and not earning interest, but should be well offset by the £5 reward.
Does anyone see a problem with this strategy?

[Deleted User]

magoo289 said:

Hugely disappointed with this change. I’ve banked with Halifax for 24 years. I won’t meet the debit card criteria as only use DC when I’m charged for using my CC.  I’ll switch but will likely keep current account open to transfer £1,500 in and out every month as I’ve a regular savings account. Plus I got my parents and one of my sisters to switch years ago to get the ‘monthly interest’. I’ll have to get them to think about switching.

You don't need to have a Halifax current account to have a Halifax RS. Even if  there was such a requirement you could let your Halifax Reward current account automatically change into an ordinary current account to avoid the need to transfer the £1500 in and out each month,

surreysaver

Looks like my Revolut Card will spring into action once again!