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

Ed-1

where_are_we said:

Elderone said:

where_are_we said:

Elderone said:

Hi. So just to check with all you clever folk without trawling through everything please. If I keep 5K in my account and ping in and out 1.5K from one of my other accounts is that ok and would halifax be happy with that because I don't earn quite enough from my wages to cover the £1500 every month. Thanks in advance.

Yes - call fully automated line before 15th May - agree to change to rewards extra current account - choose option of £5 reward - choose option of keeping £5000 in account to earn the £5 monthly reward. Deposit £5000 in account on June 1st ( this will cancel your £3 fee for June),  set up £1500 monthly standing order in and £1505 (to remove your £5 reward) out on same day from your external current account starting 2nd July ( reward will go in at beginning of month) Do this for 11 months and review the account then. Cancell your DD`s and £750 in/out standing orders that you had for the old reward at end of May.

Hi. Thanks for that very clear answer. Just one thing I forgot. My other account is an easy access savings account which I don't think I can setup standing orders from. To make it easier (using standing orders) can you suggest a few accounts I could use for the £1500. I suppose it wouldn't be the end of the world to do a transfer from my savings account and back manually every month.

Corrections to post above (1) its the £1500 in/out that cancels the £3 fee (2) It might be safer to deposit £5000 at the end of May (3) only cancel non essential DD`s - ours are to PO online savers - best to declutter.

Is Halifax your only current account? You need another current account to send £1500 SO`s in/out - options are Santander  BOS, LLoyds which earn interest but which one you would go for is another story. It is sensible to have two current accounts in case of problems with one. Many forumites won`t be using the £5000 option because if you can manage the £500 monthly DD option with low balance then your £5k can be somewhere else earning more than 1.2% as well as getting the £5 reward.

Halifax Reward Extras are good if (1) you are a nontaxpayer because the rewards are not interest and you can claim £1.25 a month back from HMRC making it equivalent to 1.5%. (2)  you exceed your £1K personal savings allowance. Also it is fixed until 31 May 2021.

If Halifax Reward is your only main current account then you have to keep the minimum balance of £5K from 1st June and make sure you do not dip below that, which means that your excess is not earning any interest.

Have you got a 2% fixed £250/month halifax regular saver ? easy to set up.

Clarification to post above:
Halifax Reward Extras are good if you are a nontaxpayer because the rewards are not interest and if you go for the £5,000 offer you can claim £1.25 a month back from HMRC making it equivalent to 1.5%.
The £500 debit card offer is cashback, not a taxable reward.

Fingerbobs

where_are_we said:

Elderone said:

where_are_we said:

Elderone said:

Hi. So just to check with all you clever folk without trawling through everything please. If I keep 5K in my account and ping in and out 1.5K from one of my other accounts is that ok and would halifax be happy with that because I don't earn quite enough from my wages to cover the £1500 every month. Thanks in advance.

Yes - call fully automated line before 15th May - agree to change to rewards extra current account - choose option of £5 reward - choose option of keeping £5000 in account to earn the £5 monthly reward. Deposit £5000 in account on June 1st ( this will cancel your £3 fee for June),  set up £1500 monthly standing order in and £1505 (to remove your £5 reward) out on same day from your external current account starting 2nd July ( reward will go in at beginning of month) Do this for 11 months and review the account then. Cancell your DD`s and £750 in/out standing orders that you had for the old reward at end of May.

Hi. Thanks for that very clear answer. Just one thing I forgot. My other account is an easy access savings account which I don't think I can setup standing orders from. To make it easier (using standing orders) can you suggest a few accounts I could use for the £1500. I suppose it wouldn't be the end of the world to do a transfer from my savings account and back manually every month.

...if you can manage the £500 monthly DD option...

Clarification: It's a £500 Debit Card spend, not a £500 DD.

margaretx9

Seems a bit inflexible to have to keep the same reward for 12 months.
One of the rewards is one free Vue Cinema ticket per month (worth up to £14 depending which branch you go to) - no idea when you will be able to take advantage of that particular monthly reward given all cinemas are closed.

colsten

margaretx9 said:

Seems a bit inflexible to have to keep the same reward for 12 months.
One of the rewards is one free Vue Cinema ticket per month (worth up to £14 depending which branch you go to) - no idea when you will be able to take advantage of that particular monthly reward given all cinemas are closed.

If you are concerned about being able to go to the cinema, opting for free cinema tickets might not be your best choice. Your decision. I for one am grateful to Halifax that they are offering me the opportunity to get a free £5 a month rather than just £2, and I would rather they didn't reduce the new amount to use on admin instead.

JustAnotherSaver

General_Grant said:

The effective interest rate rather depends on your tax status, I think.
Because I receive more than £1K in interest in a year, I look on the £5/month as equating to 1.5%.  (The £5 isn't interest but income but for me the principle is the same.)

I'm aware the £5 isn't interest in the usual sense. But you have an agreement to keep £5k in there for a period of time and they'll give you £5 for it. Same way with your usual savings account if you kept £5k in there then they'll give you x% which works out at £y. At the end of the day, it's still money in the pocket whatever name people want to put on it.

If i'm comparing it to an account that pays interest then i need to know what it is in terms of interest so that we're comparing apples with apples.

colsten said:

How long will your 1.35%-1.45% at Marcus last?

Why do you consider it a choice between Marcus and Halifax? Why not use both? 

I think it lasts until around August/September for me and then it drops to whatever it drops to which i think at the moment is still more than 1.2%?

So why use both? Well if 1 pays more than 1.2% and you don't have to jump through any hoops for it and i don't have more than the maximum allowed to put in it

And the other pays 1.2% as it's averaged out (according to people on here, not me) and you have to do a bit of hoop jumping for it.

It's a bit like saying i'll give you £20/hour to sit on your backside all day and watch telly or you can be on minimum wage and graft like a slave.

Is it not? I feel like i'm missing something but when one pays more than the other?

I just don't want to be too quick to close the Halifax one down in case i am missing something.

colsten

Option A: with £5,000 capital, you make £60 a year 
Option B: with £5,000 capital, you make £60 plus at least another £60, more likely £95+

Your choice which option you go with. I have nothing to add.

YorkshireBoy

colsten said:

How long will your 1.35%-1.45% at Marcus last?

I think it lasts until around August/September for me and then it drops to whatever it drops to which i think at the moment is still more than 1.2%?

Only your (very small) bonus element, which is fixed, lasts until then. The underlying (much larger) rate is variable.
Base rate has plummeted recently. Do you not think Marcus will cut the variable element by at least 0.5% anytime soon? I do.

General_Grant

margaretx9 said:

Seems a bit inflexible to have to keep the same reward for 12 months.
One of the rewards is one free Vue Cinema ticket per month (worth up to £14 depending which branch you go to) - no idea when you will be able to take advantage of that particular monthly reward given all cinemas are closed.

The cinema ticket option says they are valid for a year.  I would be surprised if you could not use 12 tickets (2 x 6 films if you go as a couple) by the middle of 2021.  (Of course it is longer than that because of the rolling issue.)

King_Of_Fools

JustAnotherSaver said:

General_Grant said:

The effective interest rate rather depends on your tax status, I think.
Because I receive more than £1K in interest in a year, I look on the £5/month as equating to 1.5%.  (The £5 isn't interest but income but for me the principle is the same.)

I'm aware the £5 isn't interest in the usual sense. But you have an agreement to keep £5k in there for a period of time and they'll give you £5 for it. Same way with your usual savings account if you kept £5k in there then they'll give you x% which works out at £y.

I agree that it acts like interest but from a tax point of view it is importaint to know that it is not interest in the classical sense. Depending on how much you earn the £5 reward might be worth £6.25, £5, £3.75 or £3.44 and is not related to your personal savings allowance.

soulsaver

ffacoffipawb said:

soulsaver said:

ffacoffipawb said:

In case anyone thinks I am confused about having a BOS Reward account ...

You're not alone, I guess there'll be  plenty on here still collecting BoS rewards... 

Is this account changing or staying on current terms?

Like you, AFAIK it's not changing... not included in the new offer.  I suppose you could try plugging BoS sort code & ac number into the automated system.. see if it offers you valid choices or throws you out? I'm breaking too many rules now to try it.