Halifax Reward Current Account question

allegro120

Katiehound said:

The third account allowance changed about a year ago  (or even more) because i remember telling a friend and she was trying to open  a third over the phone- and they kept arguing with her! I had to quote the wording to her.

You get more interest (subject to tax rather than the £5 Reward) from BOS classic accounts with Vantage but for those accounts you need 2 x DDs paying out every month and £1000 pay in. Pretty sure it is the same interest as Club Lloyds

Yes, Vantage offers the same as Club, but it works out as 1.8% if you employ £5k.  This rate is way too low.

Halifax Reward offers £15 p/m for making a small number of transactions without sacrificing £15k

There was the time when Club/Vantage paid very competitive rates, I opened as many as I was allowed (I think it was 1 Club and 2 Vantages), later they reduced the rates to a ridiculously low and there was no point using these features for saving purposes since.  I still have both, Club and Vantage, but keep my balances at £0.

Katiehound

Well you would have earned £7.58 for December Club Lloyds &/or BOS with Vantage which to my mind is more than £5 with Halifax reward!  (Actually half as much again) yes 2 DDs but I split up my household bills & charity donations to fulfil those clauses.

allegro120

Katiehound said:

Well you would have earned £7.58 for December Club Lloyds &/or BOS with Vantage which to my mind is more than £5 with Halifax reward!  (Actually half as much again) yes 2 DDs but I split up my household bills & charity donations to fulfil those clauses.

£5,000 earned me £21.66 in Easy Access savings account elsewhere in December.  £7.58 a month from £5k is a very low return in the current environment.
The advantage of Halifax reward offer is that to get this fiver you don't need to use any of your capital (with the exception of short debit card transaction delay), instead your £5,000 can earn you much better interest elsewhere.

WillPS

Katiehound said:

Well you would have earned £7.58 for December Club Lloyds &/or BOS with Vantage which to my mind is more than £5 with Halifax reward!  (Actually half as much again) yes 2 DDs but I split up my household bills & charity donations to fulfil those clauses.

It needn't be an either/or.

surreysaver

Katiehound said:

Well you would have earned £7.58 for December Club Lloyds &/or BOS with Vantage which to my mind is more than £5 with Halifax reward!  (Actually half as much again) yes 2 DDs but I split up my household bills & charity donations to fulfil those clauses.

If you put £5k in an easy access savings account paying 5%, you'll earn ~£20 a month. Plus £5 from a Halifax Reward by using your debit card to process £500. £20 + £5 is more than £7.58. Or for three Halifax Reward Accounts that would be £20 + £5 + £5 + £5.

Katiehound

Okay, thank you folks- I see the error of my ways!

However, and it is a big however , I don't see an easy way of using the debit card for £500 per month since that needs a purchase either in person, over the phone or online for some form of product. (and not the oh so easy moving money directly between accounts.)

Suggestions welcome but nothing that involves a Smart phone please.

Jami74

Katiehound said:

 I don't see an easy way of using the debit card for £500 per month since that needs a purchase either in person, over the phone or online for some form of product. 

I only have one reward account and each month use the debit card to pay £500 off my credit card bill. My credit card is used for all regular spending so is always more than £500, appreciate that a single person might not spend that a month.

WillPS

Katiehound said:

However, and it is a big however , I don't see an easy way of using the debit card for £500 per month since that needs a purchase either in person, over the phone or online for some form of product. (and not the oh so easy moving money directly between accounts.)

Not sure where you've got this idea it needs to be "for some form of product" from?

All you need to do is spend £500 on your debit card. Paying bills, depositing to savings or topping up other accounts is fine, so long as you use your Visa Debit card to do it; so obviously you need to find a provider who supports debit card payments/deposits/top ups. NS&I is one obvious candidate.

Eco_Miser

Katiehound said:

However, and it is a big however , I don't see an easy way of using the debit card for £500 per month since that needs a purchase either in person, over the phone or online for some form of product. (and not the oh so easy moving money directly between accounts.)

Suggestions welcome but nothing that involves a Smart phone please.

In practice a lot of things you may not think of as a purchase count.

There's a whole thread about how to 'spend' money without spending money at https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6445857/savings-investment-dds-and-debit-card-deposits-an-updated-list/p1

allegro120

Katiehound said:

Okay, thank you folks- I see the error of my ways!

However, and it is a big however , I don't see an easy way of using the debit card for £500 per month since that needs a purchase either in person, over the phone or online for some form of product. (and not the oh so easy moving money directly between accounts.)

Suggestions welcome but nothing that involves a Smart phone please.

Some building societies (for example YBS and Skipton) accept debit card payments. This can be useful if you have regular savers with them.  If not, NS&I Direct Saver is a good alternative.  You can deposit and withdraw as soon as funds become available for withdrawal (takes about a week). It's an online account, no smart phone involvement.