Halifax to relaunch regular saver @10%+

ih8stress

Advice needed please.

I have opened the RS account and will be depositing £500 sometime before the 20th July. I have arranged for subsequent SO's to be paid from my current account, starting on the 1st August.

I will need to transfer the £500 each month from an instant saver account.

My queries are:

1) Is it possible to transfer direct from an instant saver (non web account) to the Halifax RS?

2) Assuming the above answer is no - is my best bet to withdraw £500 in cash each month from the instant saver and pay it immediately into my current account (that way not waiting days for the transaction to complete)?

3) Or, will the RS accept cash deposits each month, instead of SO's?

tiptoe_mouse

trilby wrote: »

I just meant that, since Halifax say that even (instant) deposits from Halifax accounts should be done by 28th of the month, what happens to any deposits between then and the end of the month? Does it count towards that month's £500 allowance or the next month's?

But I think it's clear now that Halifax are just playing it safe with their wording and that as long as a deposit hits the account on or before the last day of a given month it'll be considered part of that month's allowance.

I'm not so sure - if that's in the terms and conditions they could well consider you in breach of them and reduce your interest. Then again, they're not the clearest Ts&Cs. I'd still want anything to the contrary to be in writing, though.

tiptoe

tiptoe_mouse

ih8stress wrote: »

Advice needed please.

I have opened the RS account and will be depositing £500 sometime before the 20th July. I have arranged for subsequent SO's to be paid from my current account, starting on the 1st August.

I will need to transfer the £500 each month from an instant saver account.

My queries are:

1) Is it possible to transfer direct from an instant saver (non web account) to the Halifax RS?

2) Assuming the above answer is no - is my best bet to withdraw £500 in cash each month from the instant saver and pay it immediately into my current account (that way not waiting days for the transaction to complete)?

3) Or, will the RS accept cash deposits each month, instead of SO's?

1) If this is the Halifax instant saver, then the Ts&Cs specify that the monthly SO cannot come from a Halifax savings account. I believe people have managed to do it, though (from a websaver - not sure about any other accounts). The risk is that Halifax will decide you've breached their Ts&Cs and cut your interest.

2) If it's the Halifax instant saver then you can only withdraw £300 a day in cash, according to their website.

3) They state that you have to fund the account by SO, and that any extra amounts have to be by SO too.

You could always open a savings account elsewhere that allows direct transfers to any UK account (which apparently are indistinguishable from an SO for the receiver). Not all accounts do, but apparently the Tesco Internet Saver does, and so does the Egg Savings account. The former also allows faster payments both ways.

HTH

tiptoe

ih8stress

Thanks for your quick reply.

It's actually the Post Office Instant Saver (though this may change to one with a better rate shortly)

I'm not really keen on an internet account at the moment.

I'll have to check if the PO Instant can allow direct transfers to the Halifax RS.
But if not, is the best way of getting money from the PO Instant to my current account going to be by withdrawing the cash from one and paying it in to the other.

I assume that if I set up transfers instead, I will be losing 3-5 days waiting for this to clear and thereby losing interest on this amount. Is this the case?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm trying to get all the facts before I arrange anything.

YorkshireBoy

ih8stress wrote: »

I'll have to check if the PO Instant can allow direct transfers to the Halifax RS.

It does, but only the first 6 withdrawals per year are free. Thereafter, they charge £1 per withdrawal (for any kind of withdrawal).

I assume that if I set up transfers instead, I will be losing 3-5 days waiting for this to clear and thereby losing interest on this amount. Is this the case?

Yes, although that may change with FP's?

ih8stress

I may be being abit thick, but what are FP's?

obsessed_saver

ih8stress wrote: »

I may be being abit thick, but what are FP's?

FP = Fast Payments

New system that allows instantaneous transfer between banks.

Gambit

tiptoe_mouse wrote: »

You could always open a savings account elsewhere that allows direct transfers to any UK account (which apparently are indistinguishable from an SO for the receiver). Not all accounts do, but apparently the Tesco Internet Saver does, and so does the Egg Savings account. The former also allows faster payments both ways.

That's what I decided to do. I'm drip feeding my regular saver so have opened a Tesco Internet Saver and will be transfering the money over to my Halifax current account the day before the SO hits as faster payments will allow this! :j

tiptoe_mouse

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

ih8stress wrote:

I'll have to check if the PO Instant can allow direct transfers to the Halifax RS.

It does, but only the first 6 withdrawals per year are free. Thereafter, they charge £1 per withdrawal (for any kind of withdrawal).

Are you sure that the PO Instant saver allows direct transfers to savings accounts? On its website it says withdrawals are via your nominated account, which usually has to be an account that allows direct debits. i don't have the account, so I can't check.

tiptoe

YorkshireBoy

tiptoe_mouse wrote: »

Are you sure that the PO Instant saver allows direct transfers to savings accounts? On its website it says withdrawals are via your nominated account, which usually has to be an account that allows direct debits. i don't have the account, so I can't check.

This account doesn't seem to offer a 'DD pull' method for deposits.
Although it can be opened with a cheque deposit, it can also be opened with cash at the Post Office.
You don't have to set up a nominated account when you open the account.
You can nominate (and then re-nominate, ie change) a savings account for BACS withdrawals after the account is opened.
See condition 20 of the T&C's.


Disclaimer: The above is my understanding from reading the T&C's/FAQ's. 'ih8stress' should check for him/herself that what they want to do is possible.