Halifax Scrapping £5/Cinema ticket Rewards.

danny13579

granta said:

Can't see anything about the hard stop from 30 September. And if they're allowing people to add Reward until 17 June, it seems odd that they would stop it a few months later.

I can't find any 30th September date on Halifax website. All that I can see mentioned is the 17th June date.

Chaykin

I take it there is no way to renew the reward mid-way through the reward "year"? Or remove it and then add it again? To hopefully get another 12 months till June-ish 2026. (if they don't cancel on everybody in September 2025)

danny13579

Chaykin said:

I take it there is no way to renew the reward mid-way through the reward "year"? Or remove it and then add it again? To hopefully get another 12 months till June-ish 2026. (if they don't cancel on everybody in September 2025)

You can't renew until around a month before your reward is due to expire, Halifax email you and the functionality becomes available to renew. Shutting down your old account and opening a new one before the 17th June may work though.

figgyc

Chaykin said:

I take it there is no way to renew the reward mid-way through the reward "year"? Or remove it and then add it again? To hopefully get another 12 months till June-ish 2026. (if they don't cancel on everybody in September 2025)

No there isn't. Per the terms:

The Offer and Monthly Reward you choose is fixed for the Offer period, which will be a minimum of 12 full months, and you can't
change it during this time.

 Theoretically you could close your account(s) and open new ones, that would probably let you pick a new perk? But it's a bit of a gamble whether the closures/reopenings will be processed in time before the deadline given there's only about 18 days. 

Or maybe downgrade and upgrade your account would work and be quicker. But I haven't tested either method personally.

Rich2808

Presumably if you have just renewed your reward you keep that for the full 12 months still - with the new rewards coming in from the end of the 12 months.

Or is this change from June/September for everyone?

danny13579

figgyc said:

Or maybe downgrade and upgrade your account would work and be quicker. But I haven't tested either method personally.

Neither have I, but I think it would probably work. Would you risk losing your May reward though if you downgraded to a Current Account and then upgraded to a Reward Current Account?

OrangeBlueGreen

I know no info has been published yet (I don't get the point of telling people before announcements, it just creates uncertainty), but am I right that Lloyds introduced rewards semi-recently that are Disney+ or a digital magazine subscription? Maybe they're going down that road (probably cheaper for them).

It's such a shame if the fiver is going though I imagine quite a few people just have the accounts to bank the money.

Olenna

steven141 said:

I noticed today on the Lloyds app it now comes up with logos of Halifax and Bank of Scotland alongside the black horse saying part of the same family so I wonder if they are planning to either introduce the Club Lloyds account to Halifax and Bank of Scotland or just keep a standard account on both of these and signpost people to move to Lloyds if they want the Club Lloyds account which makes sense.

Technically the Halifax brand could go and all customers moved to Lloyds since they only operate in England and Wales now but Bank of Scotland would be difficult to remove from Scotland as a lot of people would be up in arms and move elsewhere if they felt strongly about it. I think they've been wanting to do it for years but with the production of bank notes it makes it difficult although Virgin Money got round that one by staying registered as Clydesdale Bank.

Whilst LBG uses the terminology brands, the underlying banking licences and jurisdictions are also relevant.

The most logical move would be to move the E&W Halifax account holders to the Lloyds Bank plc licence - they could retain the Halifax brand or rebrand them as Lloyds. Scottish Halifax accounts could simply be re-branded BOS as they're already using the Bank of Scotland plc licence.

The Sterling notes as valuable are they are for marketing etc are falling in usage and generally only circulate in within Scotland anyway. I would expect they either continue with BOS notes or give up Sterling note issuance like AIB did in Northern Ireland.

Finally, the elephant in the room is constitutional change - LBG could move it's registered office to London and  retain BOS operating in Scotland and wider EU/EEA. 

WillPS

Rich2808 said:

Presumably if you have just renewed your reward you keep that for the full 12 months still - with the new rewards coming in from the end of the 12 months.

Or is this change from June/September for everyone?

BCWYC says all rewards end in September, but that's at odds with the wording on Halifax's website.

My assumption when they moved to the current scheme back in 2020 was that they were essentially allowing a ramp along which they could gradually worsen benefits, but that doesn't appear to be how this is playing out.

ThePirates

I only opened an account yesterday, my 3rd, and I picked the £5 reward. The screen says it was valid for a year ago in hoping it lasts that long 🤞