I wish I had a milllion to send in one click!…will get there eventually though (honest!)
I have been eager to use Online Banking for sometime now, and my bank seemed to be one the the last in line for it, however the wait is now over.
I have been using Halifax-Online banking for a few months now with what is relative ease.
In terms of setting up online banking the process is fairly simple and painless. Be aware though that you must have registered for 24-hour telephone banking with Halifax before you can go ahead and use Halifax-Online. Which is puzzling in many ways as 24-hour banking is normally standard with most banks and is not normally something
you need to register for. However it does not take long, and customer services seems to be fairly good.
Key in your sort code and account number along with the specific digits requested from your telephone banking security number and continue to another page. On here are all the other main details required along with a full set of security questions which you will randomly be asked on login (Mothers First Name, Where you where born etc.).
The registration process really will not take long assuming you have all the relevant information at hand.
Once registered and your Online account is up and running everything you need pretty much is there.
You get a detailed statement covering all transactions in and out of your account. The facility to view accounts which you have setup to transfer money to. Direct debits on your account along with standing orders.
All of which can be deleted in seconds, or altered i.e. Date Change for a standing order.
Transferring money between accounts is also made fairly easy. Select the account from your list and key in the amount to transfer, confirm and it is done imediately.
You can apply for various other services online with Halifax too along with a WebSaver account which I have just recently setup.
The idea is simple, with WebSaver you can setup various savings accounts with various options available to you in terms of the length of time you cannot use the money and various rates of interest.
Each time you setup a new saver account you give it a personal name. i.e. Holiday Savings. Then you select the terms you would like on the account. Depending on the options you choose the amount of time before you can use any of the money in your savings account will vary for anything upto a whole year. Obviously the longer you agree to leave the money in there the higher the interest rate.
Money can be transferred in and out of the account with ease, and if requested you can have a cash card issued for the savings account.
Overall for those everyday banking things you end up sat on the phone discussing with a customer advisor can be done online quickly and efficiently with Halifax.
I have not yet come across any real downsides with Halifax-Online, but there again I have not used any other online services from their competitors so I am not sure what they have to offer.
Halifax-Online offer you all the basic everyday banking services you need with the added advantage of being able to do it anytime of the day and with the click of a button (well a few clicks!).
Halifax-Online is only compatible with Internet Explorer and PC only which is a downside. I have tried it on IE on the Macintosh and it goes nowhere, just redirects you to error pages.
In terms of security well like a lot of things you have to put your trust in the company and rely on them to make sure that their security is as high as possible.
There are a number of security questions which you will have to use, and a different security question is asked when you login along with your username and password.
All your transactions are secured with SSL so in theory there is no real possibility of anything happenind. Although one thing to note is a commong thing for people to do is leave the web browser open and go away from their machine, or to not log out correctly and a few click of the back button and your account is there for all to see. I think in a lot of cases particularly with personal finance it is a good idea to not only think about what the company your dealing with is doing in terms of security, but to make sure your personally taking the correct measures to maintain the security and confidentiality of your information.
One small re-assuring fact is the short statement on their website regarding online fraud which reads as follows:
'If a Halifax Online customer is a victim of fraud we guarantee that they won't lose any money on their Halifax account and will always be reimbursed in full.'
Advantages: Plenty of articles, has some messageboards, excellant quotes facilities Disadvantages: They've just ditched their Shares portfolio service, which was light years better than any similar service on the 'net
Mar 26th, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
