Halifax regular saver

wmb194

eddie7612 said:

bristolleedsfan said:

wmb194 said:

I closed a BoS and a Halifax regular saver early in December 2017 and received the accrued interest at the advertised rate for both of them. I didn't have a conversation with anyone, I just closed them online, and I don't think anything's changed in the terms in meantime. I did close a Halifax regular saver early in 2010 and that definitely did pay out at a miniscule rate but IIRC that was expected as it was in the T&Cs. It could be that Halifax/BoS employees are remembering the terms from an older version of the product.

Halifax regular saver cannot be closed online .......

I think it (used to) be possible to "upgrade" it to an Easy Saver or whatever their 0.01% easy access account was called online, then you could withdraw the money.

Yes, this sounds familiar.

unwina

I've taken out a new reg saver @2% yesterday - they seem to have reduced it to 1.5% today!. (Not mine just generally from today) So their rules are a bit iffy and I've searched through the docs I received. So I funded it with £250 yesterday and have set up a S/o for 1st month ongoing. Thing is they state in the docs that I must fund each month before 25th of the month for it to count. They say the account must be funded at the start within 28 days. But and it's a biggy for me I can't work out what happens if I fund next month too early, is each month separate so I funded it yesterday for May and as I say have a S/o for rest starting on 1st june. 
Does anyone know just what the rules are -

• If i fund a month twice in error (do they close the account or just bounce the payment)

• What constitutes a month in the eyes of these accounts anyway.?

any help will be appreciated. I tried ringing them but they are not interested in my call today!
I have read their docs that came with the account but its not very clear in these areas.

Reg_Smeeton

unwina said:

• What constitutes a month in the eyes of these accounts anyway.?

Last time I had one of these Halifax accounts it worked on calendar months, so the optimal strategy is to open it as late in the month as possible (whilst ensuring the first payment clears) and then set up a standing order for the 1st of every subsequent month.

surreysaver

unwina said:

Does anyone know just what the rules are -

• If i fund a month twice in error (do they close the account or just bounce the payment)

• What constitutes a month in the eyes of these accounts anyway.?

They generally return the overpayment to the orginating account (although check the individual T&Cs for the organisation in question)

A month, unless specified otherwise, is a calendar month (i.e. from the 1st until the 28th/29th/30th/31st).  Off the top of my head without trawling through my records, I think Santander, Coventry, M&S, HSBC and First Direct are the ones that operate on an 'account' month basis.  I'm sure others may add to this list.  This means that if you opened the account on the 22nd May, for instance, you wouldn't be able to make your next payment until 22nd June.

unwina

Reg_Smeeton said:

unwina said:

• What constitutes a month in the eyes of these accounts anyway.?

Last time I had one of these Halifax accounts it worked on calendar months, so the optimal strategy is to open it as late in the month as possible (whilst ensuring the first payment clears) and then set up a standing order for the 1st of every subsequent month.

Thanks Reg, the answers I got back from Hfx, eventually on twitter, were that as I had started 26th May and had loaded up the first payment of £250 then that covered the month of June too so my next payment started on 1st of July. I still haven't established that I can make a payment on 27th (Their rules state payments for a given month must by 25th of the month. Apparently if I make a second payment in same month or I pay too much the payment gets reversed back out. Their terms state only a single payment is allowed in any given month - thats a bit odd if someone wants to make weekly payments but I guess they are trying to make the rate as 2% (1% in their examples) rather than 1.07% if I get the timing right. (begs the question do any of these banks know w3hat they are doing when they craft these rules)
Thanks for the help.

colsten

Halifax have got a bit of thing about the 25th of a month, as various extracts from their Regular Saver information show. Best to just pay in by the 25th. 

where_are_we

Reg_Smeeton said:

unwina said:

• What constitutes a month in the eyes of these accounts anyway.?

Last time I had one of these Halifax accounts it worked on calendar months, so the optimal strategy is to open it as late in the month as possible (whilst ensuring the first payment clears) and then set up a standing order for the 1st of every subsequent month.

Isn`t the "optimal strategy" to open the Halifax Regular saver ASAP, because the interest rate you will earn is higher than the account you are funding it from and you will benefit immediately. This is also assuming you renew at the end of the one year term.   "Open it as late in the month as possible" implies that it would be better to keep your money in a lower interest account for most of a month before opening the higher interest monthly saver at the end of the month - Is this true? . With "calendar month" fixed rate regular savers there is a benefit to making a 13th payment (if allowed) on the 1st day of the month and this 13th payment will be increasingly more worthwhile the later in the month the account was started and by definition matures. 

unwina

I managed to open it on the 26th hoping to open the wife's the following day. Sadly Hfx dropped the rate from 2% to 1.5% overnight so she decided to keep it in her Marcus that expires in August with currently a rate of 1.2% (inc bonus) but it will drop after August 30th to 1.05% unless they reduce it even more by then!.

On the strategy aspect - I was told that my next payment could not be made until 1st July as the payment I made on 26th was for June. I was hoping to get the full percentage possible though but I'm not sure that will be the case as I will lose 3 days until the 1st and then 3/4 days after the 26th. 

I should really have checked also the end of the 12 months and tried to get it to fal;l on a saturday to get the weekend days at the end too. (Based on their rules of weekends)

where_are_we

unwina said:

I managed to open it on the 26th hoping to open the wife's the following day. Sadly Hfx dropped the rate from 2% to 1.5% overnight so she decided to keep it in her Marcus that expires in August with currently a rate of 1.2% (inc bonus) but it will drop after August 30th to 1.05% unless they reduce it even more by then!.

On the strategy aspect - I was told that my next payment could not be made until 1st July as the payment I made on 26th was for June. I was hoping to get the full percentage possible though but I'm not sure that will be the case as I will lose 3 days until the 1st and then 3/4 days after the 26th. 

I should really have checked also the end of the 12 months and tried to get it to fal;l on a saturday to get the weekend days at the end too. (Based on their rules of weekends)

That`s unfortunate that you seem to have fallen foul of their "you must fund by 25th of the month" rule. Did you speak to someone? I hesitate to suggest trying 12 standing orders for £250 from 1st June. Others on this forum might have more knowledge of the sucess of doing this. I imagine the worst that could happen is that your first June SO gets rejected and is returned back?

Reg_Smeeton

where_are_we said:

Isn`t the "optimal strategy" to open the Halifax Regular saver ASAP, because the interest rate you will earn is higher than the account you are funding it from and you will benefit immediately. This is also assuming you renew at the end of the one year term.   "Open it as late in the month as possible" implies that it would be better to keep your money in a lower interest account for most of a month before opening the higher interest monthly saver at the end of the month - Is this true? . With "calendar month" fixed rate regular savers there is a benefit to making a 13th payment (if allowed) on the 1st day of the month and this 13th payment will be increasingly more worthwhile the later in the month the account was started and by definition matures. 

You have a point, I guess it comes down to other factors as well such as whether you are funding with “new” money or recycling existing funds (if the former what day of the month your pay cheque lands, if the latter what interest rate your recycled money is held at). Or even if the month you make your first deposit has 28, 30 or 31 days!

In any case, with interest rates on regular savers and easy access savings having dropped like a stone over the last year the difference must be fairly negligible. I have to say I found it psychologically pleasing to be able to shoehorn £500 into the Halifax regular saver within the first week or so, it always seems to take ages to get your balance building with the “account month” savers!