Birmingham Midshire account closures - advice on setting up direct debits elsewhere 9 November 2022 at 10:49AM in Budgeting & bank accounts 18 replies 991 views

emmac1

Morning everyone,

I'm looking for some advice, please.

The closure of BM accounts means I will lose a monthly direct debit and no longer qualify for the Halifax Reward £5 per month for having two active monthly direct debits. As we all know, every little bit helps at the moment, so could anyone recommend another bank which will allow deposits to the account by direct debit?

Thank you

[Deleted User]

Ecology do a saver with DD payments (minimum £25 a month I think, though there was a £10 a month one at some point)
Plum with robo saving are a quick one to setup as well

kaMelo

emmac1 said:

Morning everyone,

I'm looking for some advice, please.

The closure of BM accounts means I will lose a monthly direct debit and no longer qualify for the Halifax Reward £5 per month for having two active monthly direct debits. As we all know, every little bit helps at the moment, so could anyone recommend another bank which will allow deposits to the account by direct debit?

Thank you

You don't need DD's for the cashback.

quirkydeptless

Good summary here:

https://becleverwithyourcash.com/cheap-direct-debits-for-bank-switching-and-rewards/

I'm using Plum (turn off auto invest and set to a weekly £1) and Moneybox (weekly) and setting up Ecology BS at the moment, which is slow due to papaerwork rather than DD online set up, but then if they were more up to date with their system, I guess they wouldn't have DD which pretty much all other savings accounts have dropped

Vanguard is mentioned in the link above, but other investment platforms are an option. I've got 2 x £25 cash DD going into my Hargreaves Landsdown accounts from different Banks, one for the S&S ISA (NB check ISA contribution limits here) and one for the Fun and Share.

Also £2 a month DD going into Wealthify. Check for a newbie sign up bonus on this one which crops up on MSE from time to time. Of course there is investment risk here, but the amount is small.

I have also used the National Lottery for DDs on occasion, but you have to treat this one as a cost really as you are far more likely to lose money. But then, if you like a bit of a flutter

GTR_King

Don’t think Halifax reward needs DD’s for the £5

PRAISETHESUN

Halifax hasn't needed DDs for it's rewards for some time. Depending on which reward you opted into, you only need to maintain a daily balance of £5k+, or spend £500/month on your debit card.

As for alternatives for DDs, there's a few good suggestions discussed here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5734632/savings-accounts-accepting-dds

Otherwise:

Reshuffle legitimate household bills that can be paid by DD (ie. electricity, gas, water, internet, council tax, credit card, etc).
Moneybox/Plum/PayPal/Ecology BS
Some local building societies/credit unions offer savings that allow saving by DD
Charities

soulsaver

Here's some I don't see suggested often:

Between me and OH we have v. little use on a few CCs, especially since the cashback on Chase.

If your mob network provider doesn't do DDs -  ask for continuous payment against one of the hitherto unused cards.
So one low payment pm on that card. I set up to pay that CC by DD.

Do the same for prescription pre payment (if that is value for you) on a different card.

Can do car road tax by monthly DD.

You can pay TV licence by DD, but the monthly option is rubbish. 

Note I'm only suggesting subscribing to things you get no or v.little cash back on the Sant123 acs.

gary1312

emmac1 said:

Morning everyone,

I'm looking for some advice, please.

The closure of BM accounts means I will lose a monthly direct debit and no longer qualify for the Halifax Reward £5 per month for having two active monthly direct debits. As we all know, every little bit helps at the moment, so could anyone recommend another bank which will allow deposits to the account by direct debit?

Thank you

I have just started using my Paypal account to satisfy the conditions of my NatWest & RBS Reward accounts. I have both accounts set up for direct debit on my Paypal account and just make two £2 deposits each month on each account. 

I'm not a Halifax customer so I'm not sure if they specify the DDs must be different ones, as opposed to the RBS/NatWest accounts which allow both DDs to be from the same provider.

[Deleted User]

soulsaver said:

Here's some I don't see suggested often:



Can do car road tax by monthly DD.

VED (as there is no such thing as road tax) can be paid monthly but does mean you take a 5% premium hit vs paying in full - though you can pay it annually by direct debit, presumably it will count as active albeit only pulled once a year

Katiehound

Halifax certainly does not need 2 x DDs
(Club Lloyds & BOS vantage do)

Don't forget that many Council Tax are taken as 10 payments - which messes up the system if you need 12! But you can ask them to change mandate to 12 payments

I also have a couple of extra CCs. If needed I spend a small amount on one or two of them every month

Ecology BS takes a good while to set up

WillPS

Katiehound said:

Halifax certainly does not need 2 x DDs
(Club Lloyds & BOS vantage do)

Don't forget that many Council Tax are taken as 10 payments - which messes up the system if you need 12! But you can ask them to change mandate to 12 payments

I also have a couple of extra CCs. If needed I spend a small amount on one or two of them every month

Ecology BS takes a good while to set up

Club Lloyds only needs DDs if you want interest. The fee is waived regardless so long as you meet the minimum pay in.

Every council will offer 12 monthly instalments as a payment option, you might have to ask them to change you over to it however.