New £175 bonus for switching to Halifax Reward (29 Nov 2022)

Indout96

Nevergonnaretire said:

My switch completed Tuesday (new customer) but no sign of bonus yet. Guide said within 3 days if I recall which would have been Friday, I wonder if it’s gonna arrive at all now??

My switch completed Friday (16th) bonus was in account same day (same with wifes) both now withdrawn and my account closed this morning, wifes will be closed tonight so we avoid the £3 charge.
Did you remember to use the card ? its the only bank that has asked us to do that.
We already have a donor account (at the moment with TSB as it holds 2 x charity DD) but think we have done all the bank swaps now so don't need 2 open.

Nevergonnaretire

Indout96 said:

Nevergonnaretire said:

My switch completed Tuesday (new customer) but no sign of bonus yet. Guide said within 3 days if I recall which would have been Friday, I wonder if it’s gonna arrive at all now??

My switch completed Friday (16th) bonus was in account same day (same with wifes) both now withdrawn and my account closed this morning, wifes will be closed tonight so we avoid the £3 charge.
Did you remember to use the card ? its the only bank that has asked us to do that.
We already have a donor account (at the moment with TSB as it holds 2 x charity DD) but think we have done all the bank swaps now so don't need 2 open.

Yeah I’ve been using the card although I admit I missed that in the conditions!

I just gave them a ring and would you believe the reason it hasn’t been paid is because there was a ‘staff’ indicator on the account which made it ineligible for the bonus. I explained I used to work for my old bank about 24 years ago! Seems something was left on the account and the agent on the phone said she’ll get that unblocked and it should then be paid. I must be getting in the festive spirit as we both had a chuckle about it, normally I’m a lot more grumpy about such things 😁

danny13579

Opened account on 5th December and got bonus on 16th. Can't find an answer to this anywhere.

How long do I have to pay in the £1,500 to avoid the £3 monthly fee?

Do I have to pay it in before the end of December,

or is it for the first full calendar month which would make it before 31st January,

or is it before 1 month from account opening which would be 5th January?

Thanks!

flaneurs_lobster

If you've got £1500 available just hokey-cokey it just now. Otherwise I think that the fee/reward calculations kick in in the first full calendar month (based on when I received the reward information after opening and I could query the reward status in the app). 

If you are not planning on running the account for the rewards then just downgrade it straight away so no fee will be payable.

danny13579

flaneurs_lobster said:

based on when I received the reward information after opening and I could query the reward status in the app). 

If you are not planning on running the account for the rewards then just downgrade it straight away so no fee will be payable.

Thanks, I can't actually use the app as I'm still waiting for the activation code to arrive, it's currently in the black hole that is Royal Mail letters! I found out I got the bonus by doing a balance check on an ATM - funnily enough my card and PIN arrived very quickly!

I don't plan on going for the rewards as you have to keep £5,000 in the account and at an interest rate of 1.2% there are far better options available. Downgrading is a good idea, thanks I think I'll do that whenever I can actually get into the app!

flaneurs_lobster

danny13579 said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

based on when I received the reward information after opening and I could query the reward status in the app). 

If you are not planning on running the account for the rewards then just downgrade it straight away so no fee will be payable.

Thanks, I can't actually use the app as I'm still waiting for the activation code to arrive, it's currently in the black hole that is Royal Mail letters! I found out I got the bonus by doing a balance check on an ATM - funnily enough my card and PIN arrived very quickly!

I don't plan on going for the rewards as you have to keep £5,000 in the account and at an interest rate of 1.2% there are far better options available. Downgrading is a good idea, thanks I think I'll do that whenever I can actually get into the app!

Lacking online access, I checked that I had received the bonus by setting up automatic telephone banking. It's a bit clunky. An alternative to keeping £5K in the account is spending £500 on the debit card, paying into a savings account elsewhere or funding a Revolut card are some ways of "spending".

piker57

I must confess to being impressed with Halifax (so far). 

Account opened 12th December, card & pin received 16th, online activation code received on the 17th - despite postal strike! My switch from my recently opened TSB account (MoneySaving Expert incentive earned) doesn’t complete until the 21st, but the £175 incentive was paid in yesterday.

As we’ve exhausted all the current switch incentive opportunities, I’m going to use the account for a while to earn the rewards. Thanks to posters who’ve advised a debit card payment to a savings account with either Yorkshire or Skipton building societies will satisfy the qualifying spend commitments.