Halifax reward account qualification options

Catplan

My understanding is it’s £500 on the debit card or maintain 5k.

can I switch from one to the other? 

I now have an account that I can fund with the debit card and interest rates have rising making it worthwhile moving the funds and carrying a lower balance  in the reward account.

soulsaver

You can't switch until the end of the current option - IIRC during April 2023 for start in May for me.
No one should have had £5k in earning £60 pa, now - at best, the equivalent of 1.5% to someone who pays tax on savings interest.

Daliah

You might be able to downgrade your account, thereby stopping the Rewards. Then upgrade the account again and selecting the debit card option.EDIT: reports say this won't work.

You are also allowed more than one Reward account - up to 3, IIRC. So you might be able to add another account for your debit card option.

But as already mentioned, keeping £5k in a Reward account is no longer sensible when you can get 5% on £5k (at Barclays) and nearly 3% in instant access ones.

Johntea

I would switch to Lloyds, you'll get a rewards account with six free cinema tickets a year (or Gourmet Society membership / magazine subscriptions), plus you can then open a linked (instant access) saver account to shove up to £400 a month in at 5.25%

Plus £150 if you do the switch before 14 November

With it being the same banking group the mobile banking app is pretty much identical to Halifax too

Although you need to make sure you filter £1500 through it a month or you'll get hit by a £3 fee

WillPS

Johntea said:

I would switch to Lloyds, you'll get a rewards account with six free cinema tickets a year (or Gourmet Society membership / magazine subscriptions), plus you can then open a linked (instant access) saver account to shove up to £400 a month in at 5.25%

Plus £150 if you do the switch before 14 November

With it being the same banking group the mobile banking app is pretty much identical to Halifax too

Although you need to make sure you filter £1500 through it a month or you'll get hit by a £3 fee

1. £5 cash trumps any of those IMHO. 
2. Do both. In fact do Halifax x3. Halifax will also have a switching incentive in time.

Catplan

Got all switching incentives currently available, I think the downgrade then upgrade option Dalia mentions might be best bet here. 

alternate

In my experience this will not work.  I tried it some time ago and the account upgraded with the same qualifying terms as before.  The only way I could change mid-term was to open a new current account and close the old one.

Winchmore_Hill_Shot

I buy £500 in premium bonds towards the end of every month using my debit card and then sell £500 back just after the draw.  The likely winnings I lose out on this way is minimal but it means I get the £5 per month without having to think about doing anything else.  Feels like free money.

pfpf

you know the bonds you buy at the end of say October don't enter the draw till December?

Section62

Winchmore_Hill_Shot said:

I buy £500 in premium bonds towards the end of every month using my debit card and then sell £500 back just after the draw.  The likely winnings I lose out on this way is minimal but it means I get the £5 per month without having to think about doing anything else.  Feels like free money.

You can do the same thing with a NS&I Direct Saver account - without the complication of affecting your bond holdings and eligibility for draws.

Bridlington1

Daliah said:

You might be able to downgrade your account, thereby stopping the Rewards. Then upgrade the account again and selecting the debit card option.

You are also allowed more than one Reward account - up to 3, IIRC. So you might be able to add another account for your debit card option.

But as already mentioned, keeping £5k in a Reward account is no longer sensible when you can get 5% on £5k (at Barclays) and nearly 3% in instant access ones.

Downgrading the account won't work, I've tried it. As soon as you upgrade the account it will automatically revert to the £5k option again. As already mentioned, you can downgrade the account, then open 3 more reward accounts.

The downgraded account would make an ideal donor account for switching purposes should you become eligible for another switching offer at some point in the future. There's no harm in just keeping it open as their bog standard current account comes with no fees or anything.