New Halifax Reward account. Has anyone figured out a way around £500 spending?

myth123

GTR_King said:

I use my Halifax Reward Debit card to pay £500 into my post office saver then transfer money back that works for me 

Roughly how long does it take for the deposit to show in you PO saver and for it to withdraw? I put in £500 at the weekend but it's still not showing, not sure if it's slower over the weekend/bank hol.

JustAnotherSaver

From past experience it can take days to show.

And also from past experience once shown you may be able to withdraw it there and then, a few days or weeks later all the way up to having to make a phone call to get that money back

Very faffy.

Costabit

JustAnotherSaver said:

From past experience it can take days to show.

And also from past experience once shown you may be able to withdraw it there and then, a few days or weeks later all the way up to having to make a phone call to get that money back

Very faffy.

Have to say , I concur with what JustAnotherSaver has said.
Over the years, I have unfortunately experienced all of the above scenarios with the PO accounts. They were once really useful for DDs and debit card transactions and I have held many accounts with them, but are running them down now as it is nearly always an issue in getting money back.

myth123

Ahhh, thanks for the feedback, I have them set up to pull direct debits to meet the criteria for one of my current accounts so thought it might be an easy way of hitting the £500 as it's an existing savings account. I do recall having issues withdrawing money from them the first time I did it years ago but never had too much issue since (although it does only tend to be a very small amount when I do). Hopefully the £500 I've deposited will show and can withdraw soon, will have to rethink the £500, got pingit for another month I guess!

JustAnotherSaver

Well if I've understood the workaround properly then there's a way with NS&I that means I'd just need to hold £500 in it (NS&I) rather than £5k in each Halifax account.

There are explanations on other sites (providing they're correct) but you have to do a bit of digging for it.
But if this NS&I thing works then I'll do that rather than go back to Post Office. 

polymaff

JustAnotherSaver said:

Well if I've understood the workaround properly then there's a way with NS&I that means I'd just need to hold £500 in it (NS&I) rather than £5k in each Halifax account.

There are explanations on other sites (providing they're correct) but you have to do a bit of digging for it.
But if this NS&I thing works then I'll do that rather than go back to Post Office. 

This exact method has been described MANY times recently - and in this thread, too.

You don't need to "hold" it in NS&I, either.  When it has cleared, you can get it back from NS&I overnight.

JustAnotherSaver

Sorry I missed the bit where it was described.
I've seen various names but it was only on another site I saw a description. 

Either way, I was on the NS&I site last night and it said they close the account if there's less than £500 in it.
Are you saying that isn't true? 

I can't provide link and quote right now as I'm at work but I can tonight. 

colsten

JustAnotherSaver said:

Either way, I was on the NS&I site last night and it said they close the account if there's less than £500 in it.
Are you saying that isn't true? 

It is true and it is not true, depending on which of the NS&I accounts you look at.

polymaff

JustAnotherSaver said:

Sorry I missed the bit where it was described.
I've seen various names but it was only on another site I saw a description. 

Either way, I was on the NS&I site last night and it said they close the account if there's less than £500 in it.
Are you saying that isn't true? 

I can't provide link and quote right now as I'm at work but I can tonight. 

Have a look at NS&I's Direct Saver.  That's what I use.  Minimum balance is £1.

TheMightySwordfish

This is possible and quicker with Revolut. Sorry Colsten 😏