Top Bank Accounts Discussion Area
Options
Comments
-
Beware if trying to open a Halifax joint account and you live in Scotland.
My wife and I wanted to take advantage of the Halifax switcher service, particularly as my wife regularly does work for a US company and they pay her in Dollars. Nationwide, where we've had an account for 10 years, charge £25 per transaction for receiving and converting dollars. Halifax only charge £7 per transaction. Along with the £100 switch incentive and the £5 monthly payment for the reward account this looked great.
I applied online (having been told that it was easy to add a new name to the account by phone) and was accepted. Then, after calling to add my wife to the account I was told this was impossible over the phone and we'd have to visit a branch. However, Halifax has no branches in Scotland and we were told that Bank of Scotland could deal with us instead. Today, we went into a Bank of Scotland branch for our appointment which was set up via Bank of Scotland's customer service line, to be told that Bank of Scotland can only "maintain" Halifax accounts and nothing else so they couldn't add a new name to the Halifax account for us. This was on top of the assigned person not even turning up for the appointment!
So, I now have an empty and useless current account sitting somewhere in England....
So, it seems that if you are in Scotland and would like to open a joint account with Halifax it is impossible unless you are willing to take a trip into England to add a party to your account. Seems like Halifax are not interested in Scottish joint accounts.
Anyway, thought this was worth mentioning as it is not discussed in the Best Current Account Article and Halifax is highlighted as a best buy. Living in Scotland? Need a joint account? Don't go with Halifax!0 -
Beware if trying to open a Halifax joint account and you live in Scotland.
My wife and I wanted to take advantage of the Halifax switcher service, particularly as my wife regularly does work for a US company and they pay her in Dollars. Nationwide, where we've had an account for 10 years, charge £25 per transaction for receiving and converting dollars. Halifax only charge £7 per transaction. Along with the £100 switch incentive and the £5 monthly payment for the reward account this looked great.
I applied online (having been told that it was easy to add a new name to the account by phone) and was accepted. Then, after calling to add my wife to the account I was told this was impossible over the phone and we'd have to visit a branch. However, Halifax has no branches in Scotland and we were told that Bank of Scotland could deal with us instead. Today, we went into a Bank of Scotland branch for our appointment which was set up via Bank of Scotland's customer service line, to be told that Bank of Scotland can only "maintain" Halifax accounts and nothing else so they couldn't add a new name to the Halifax account for us. This was on top of the assigned person not even turning up for the appointment!
So, I now have an empty and useless current account sitting somewhere in England....
So, it seems that if you are in Scotland and would like to open a joint account with Halifax it is impossible unless you are willing to take a trip into England to add a party to your account. Seems like Halifax are not interested in Scottish joint accounts.
Anyway, thought this was worth mentioning as it is not discussed in the Best Current Account Article and Halifax is highlighted as a best buy. Living in Scotland? Need a joint account? Don't go with Halifax!
They should be able to post you a form, which you can either take to a BoS branch (they'll have to send it off to be processed) or post directly to Halifax.
Your wife may need to show ID at a BoS branch if she doesn't already have a Halifax account.0 -
They should be able to post you a form, which you can either take to a BoS branch (they'll have to send it off to be processed) or post directly to Halifax.
Your wife may need to show ID at a BoS branch if she doesn't already have a Halifax account.
It was confirmed last night when I spoke to them that I can't do that. I would've thought you could send in ID but the response was that I could've been sending in anyone's ID. It has to be a face-to-face appointment with ID.
It was also confirmed that BoS branches can't do anything for this account. I would've thought that any half sensible bank would make sure their sister bank north of the border could do something this simple, but obviously not.
Anyway, in the end they have paid me compensation and now I'll be off to open up a First Direct account, especially after I see on their website there is the option to open up a joint account.0 -
Had the same problem recently with a Halifax overdraft - they couldnt reduce it in a Scottish "Bank of Scotland" branch.
Halifax are looking to move back into the Scottish high street soon apparently with independent branches0 -
The other half & i are looking to move to Australia in the next year & part of the process will involve paying for our visa etc in Australian dollars ( ~£4k). Halifax charge 2.75% for foreign transactions which is a hefty amount on £ 4,000
Does anyone know which current account has the lowest fees / charges for foreign transactions? I realise paying on a credit card might be better but I'm not convinced either of us could get a new credit card with a limit of £4k within the next few months
Any help much appreciated!0 -
Beware if trying to open a Halifax joint account and you live in Scotland.
My wife and I wanted to take advantage of the Halifax switcher service, particularly as my wife regularly does work for a US company and they pay her in Dollars. Nationwide, where we've had an account for 10 years, charge £25 per transaction for receiving and converting dollars. Halifax only charge £7 per transaction. Along with the £100 switch incentive and the £5 monthly payment for the reward account this looked great.
I applied online (having been told that it was easy to add a new name to the account by phone) and was accepted. Then, after calling to add my wife to the account I was told this was impossible over the phone and we'd have to visit a branch. However, Halifax has no branches in Scotland and we were told that Bank of Scotland could deal with us instead. Today, we went into a Bank of Scotland branch for our appointment which was set up via Bank of Scotland's customer service line, to be told that Bank of Scotland can only "maintain" Halifax accounts and nothing else so they couldn't add a new name to the Halifax account for us. This was on top of the assigned person not even turning up for the appointment!
So, I now have an empty and useless current account sitting somewhere in England....
So, it seems that if you are in Scotland and would like to open a joint account with Halifax it is impossible unless you are willing to take a trip into England to add a party to your account. Seems like Halifax are not interested in Scottish joint accounts.
Anyway, thought this was worth mentioning as it is not discussed in the Best Current Account Article and Halifax is highlighted as a best buy. Living in Scotland? Need a joint account? Don't go with Halifax!
I was just about to apply for this account but as we live in scotland looks like thats not happening now
I have a first direct account and while im not a huge fan of the online banking format I was thinking of moving our joint account to them to get the £100 but does anyone know if we would qualify for the £100 as hes a new customer but im not?0 -
my_definition wrote: »I was just about to apply for this account but as we live in scotland looks like thats not happening now
I have a first direct account and while im not a huge fan of the online banking format I was thinking of moving our joint account to them to get the £100 but does anyone know if we would qualify for the £100 as hes a new customer but im not?
If Halifax are able to verify your identity online then you shouldn't have any problems in opening an account from Scotland.0 -
If Halifax are able to verify your identity online then you shouldn't have any problems in opening an account from Scotland.
I actually have an account it was a joint account i was wanting and the poster i was quoting said you cant open a joint account in scotland, i may phone them but i hate phoning banks and being on hold for ages.
Thanks for the advice.0 -
It's not the "being in Scotland" that is the problem. The issue is that Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Lloyds (all part of Lloyds) won't let you open a JOINT account on line. I've just tried to open a joint current account with BoS and when I phoned up to say I couldn't find a "joint" box to tick I was informed that we would need to go to a branch. So not much good for Halifax accounts if you are in Scotland or BoS accounts if you are in England. I wasn't given a satisfactory reason just told it was "policy". I've had no problem opening joint accounts with First Direct or Santander or other numerous savings organisations.0
-
First Direct bonus £125
As it's back in the newsletter, I thought I'd point out something obvious. First Direct are willing to give you £125 if you jump through certain hoops.
I fixated on the one hoop: pay in at least £1,000 a month for three months. I forgot about switching direct debits via their dedicated switching team and so was ineligible for the bonus. I decided to do it online using First Direct's web banking and that doesn't count.
If you join First Direct make sure to contact their switching team otherwise no money for you - no matter how much you plead on the phone to them (I tried!).0
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.2K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.7K Spending & Discounts
- 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
- 608.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173.1K Life & Family
- 247.9K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards