I’ve had a current account with the Halifax since the tender age of 14. No I wasn’t some kind of precocious brat with an unhealthy interest in the F.T. The people who employed me to do a paperround preferred to put my wages into a bank account which happened to be the Halifax. So 13 years ... Read review
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convenient, easy to use, 24 hour banking available
Disadvantages:
different interest rates and overdraft charges for different income groups
Recommend to potential buyers:
no
Full review
I’ve had a current account with the Halifax since the tender age of 14. No I wasn’t some kind of precocious brat with an unhealthy interest in the F.T. The people who employed me to do a paperround preferred to put my wages into a bank account which happened to be the Halifax. So 13 years later I’m still with the Halifax. Avoiding the hassle of changing my account is one big reason why I’m still with them. Also they’ve given me no reason to be forced to change it.
So what does the Halifax current account offer? You can find out plenty about the Halifax current account and general services from their website (www.halifax.co.uk).
APPLYING FOR AN ACCOUNT
You can apply for an account online via the halifax website. There is the old fashioned way of going into a branch and applying in person. I must admit I prefer to do these kind of things face to face as you can see that they’ve been done. I’m not sure what identification requirements there are for applying online, as obviously I didn’t apply online for my account. However, if you apply via a branch you need proof of name such as passport and proof of address such as a recent utility bill.
On their website there is a call back facility where you can request someone call you back at a convenient time so that you can either set up an account or discuss setting up an account. There is on their website a number you can call to set up an account. Also they have a branch locator so you can find out where your nearest halifax is.
WITHDRAWING MONEY
Once you’ve opened an account you can get a switch debit card which can also be used at halifax ATM machines to withdraw money. You can withdraw up to £1,200 a day from your account, although if you are using the ATM machines individual branches may set this as lower in accordance to the money available in their machines. You need funds of £100 or more in your account to be able to start using your switch card.
Also, Halifax is a member of the Link system which means you can withdraw money from any non halifax bank or building society that is also a member, it usually says Link somewhere on the ATM machine if they’re a member. However, there may be a small charge to do this and it’s not always clear if this is the case. This is one of the main gripes I’ve had with the Halifax. A couple of years ago, charges to use non Halifax ATMs were either introduced or re introduced with no warning on the ATMs or given out by the Halifax. I only worked out there was a charge by looking at my bank statements and thinking ‘hold on how come I’ve taken £10.50 out”. I must have paid nearly £10 to get hold of my own money. It’s not just the fault of the Halifax, but I reckon if there’s going to be a charge to do something, it should be made clear.
CHEQUE BOOKS, STANDING ORDERS, DIRECT DEBITS
You can also receive a cheque book with a £100 cheque guarantee card. You can set up standing orders and direct debits with the Halifax. Personally I’ve not had a problem with my council tax standing order. However, the standing orders I tried to set up that was supposed to transfer some money to my ISA every payday, was a complete disaster. I tried setting up with them twice and twice there was a distinct lack of money transferal. So I’m afraid I gave up. I work near a high street with a Halifax and Nationwide in walking distance of each other, so it’s easier to do it myself.
INTEREST
Obviously as it’s a current account the interest paid on your money is quite pithy, especially if you don’t have a lot of money in there.
If you put a £1,000 or more a month in to your current account you get 2.02% AER ( 2% gross) on the full balance. The interest they charge you on an arranged overdraft of over £100 is 8.9 % EAR. There is no authorised overdraft fee.
If you put less than £1,000 a month in the picture is a little bit different. 0.25% AER gross interest on balances up to £500 2.02% AER (2% gross) on balances over £500 18.9% EAR interest charged on arranged overdrafts over £100 £5 per month fee if you use more than £100 of an authorised overdraft.
If you go for three months without making payments of at least £1,000 a month your benefits change to the £1,000 or less a month benefits.
Regardless of income everyone can get an interest and charge free overdraft of up to £100. Which is pretty good as there is nothing worse than thinking you might go £3 overdrawn and have to pay 3 times that in charges.
So it would seem that overdrafts are more costly the less your income is, which doesn’t seem fair. It does seem unfair that the interest rate is income related. However, as it’s a current account the interest rate is low anyway so if I earnt more my monthly interest could go up from the princely sum of about 12p to maybe 24p.
CHARGES
Whilst looking at the Halifax webiste for this review I was shocked to see some of the hefty charges you can incur.
Unpaid transactions: If there’s not enough money in your account for cheques, standing orders, direct debits you are liable to a £30 charge.
Abroad: There is a cirrus and maestro facility on your card that lets you use it in cash machines abroad or to pay for services abroad. However, this doesn’t come free. There is a 2.25% conversion fee and a £1.50 charge on each transaction
Unauthorised overdrafts: Scary stuff. There are charges on unauthorised overdrafts, but there is a bit of leeway. If you are illegally overdrawn for just 1 or 2 days there is no charge. But, if this happens more than once in a calender month or if it is for longer than 1 or 2 days there is a £28 charge with 14 days notice given before it’s deducted from your account.
So overdraft wise it’s costly if you have an unauthorised overdraft. However, the interest free £100 is really good. I’ve got a £50 overdraft, which I haven’t used yet, but it’s good to know that it’s there as a buffer zone if I ever get really broke one month and that using it won’t bring about fees and interest.
SPECIAL SERVICES
There are a range of special services that the Halifax current account offers that are accompanied with charges
Stopped cheques (not lost or stolen) £7.50 Special cheque presentation £12 Bankers draft £10 per draft Copy of paid cheques £5 Extra statement £5 CHAPS £18 (clearing house automated payment system)
I mainly use the ATM machine where you can withdraw and deposit money, check your balance and get a mini statement to check whats going in and out of your account. It’s convenient to use, which is I think one of the most important things in a current account, to be able to withdraw money quickly and easily.
Whenever something more complicated has occurred, I’ve found the staff to be helpful. Like most places it does tend to be busier at lunchtimes, so if you can thats a time best avoided if you need to see the counter staff. Also most branches aren’t open Saturday afternoons, although obviously the ATM machines are still usable.
24 HOUR BANKING
Yep you don’t have to restrict all your banking needs to when Halifax branches are open. There is an online banking facility available from the Halifax website, along with a little demonstration thing that gives you an idea of what online banking involves.
Also there is a telephone number on their website which you can ring 24 hours a day for your financial requirements. There is also a facility to do banking via your wap mobile phone, but in my opinion that seems expensive and a bit pointless.To be honest my finances are quite simple, so I can’t think of many reasons why I’d need 24 hour banking.
The only thing that really springs to mind is loosing my switch card. I used to be very good at this and until the card’s been cancelled there's a horrible dread that some naughty person may be having a spending spree and good old time with my hard earned cash. This is why a 24 hour banking system is so good, if I loose my card again ( I haven’t for years) I won’t have to wait until I can reach a Halifax branch to cancel it.
OTHER TYPES OF ACCOUNTS
The Halifax current account is for the non student over 18’s who for the most part will have their wages paid into their account. There are a number of accounts that differ slightly from the current account, because they are catering for different people.
STUDENT ACCOUNT
This has most of the benefits of the current account. However, the overdrafts terms for students are a lot more generous. There is an interest free overdraft facility of £750 in the first year, £1,000 in the 2nd year and £1,250 in the third year. I’m not sure why it varies like that, maybe they’re trying to get students to stay with them for 2 years so they can get the £1,250 overdraft. Some of the charges and fees are also less for students i.e insufficient funds for cheques
CARDCASH
This is a simpler form of the current account it has lots of the same benefits. It takes £50 to open and offers a solo debit card. There is no overdraft facility. Up to £300 can be withdrawn from ATM machines daily.
UNDER 18 ACCOUNTS
There are several different accounts for the under 18s depending on their ages.
16-18 Cardcash accounts are used for this age groups 11-15 Express cash accounts Where kids can have 24 hour access to their money and withdraw up to £300 a day 0-16 Save4it This is a passbok pocket money account, that can be set up in a childs name until they reach 7
I’m happy with my current account. In my opinion there is very little difference between current accounts from different banks and building societies (I could be wrong, I’m certainly no expert) The down point with the Halifax is the different rates of interest for different monthly incomes and the more costly overdrafts if you have less than £1,000 a month going into your current account. However, it does offer convenience and ease of use.
Advantages: All in opinion Disadvantages: All in opinion
...Leeds Building Society merged with Halifax ~ a merger that suited me nicely seeing that I was given Halifax Plc shares, a total value of around £2,000. All Leeds branches closed down and all existing account members were taken over by Halifax. My initial reaction was to close my account and sell my shares, after all I was more than happy with Barclays Bank and so there was really no need to look elsewhere to invest my money.
Despite the merger I ... ...account got converted into a Halifax Current account. ~ So after six years of banking with Halifax Plc I can gladly say that I am more than a satisfied customer. The merger has doubled if not trebled the number of their customers & more importantly they are now more than capable to compete with other high street banks ~ Since the launch of the merger Halifax Plc has developed into a major force in the financial industry, growing from strength to ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Good HS presence, v.good online service, good range of fin.services Disadvantages: Annoying adverts!
I've been with the Halifax for over 10 years now and must say they're not a bad bunch. Occasionally you get the odd muppet behind the glass screen but, compared to other current accounts (Natwest & Nationwide) I've had, they're right up there with the best.
At the moment, I share a Halifax account with my girlfriend and we use that for all our bill paying. We pay in £1000 a month which covers rent and bills quite nicely but also entitles us to 4% ... ...is updated monthly, so we get a couple of quid a month from that, which is better than a kick in the teeth!
We also have a £1000 arranged overdraft just incase and its nice to have this feature, even though we haven't used it just yet. A feature that is much better than natwest is the paying in at the hole in the wall. You don't need to include a paying in slip, which you do with Natwest. It must print the s/c and acc. number on the envelope, which ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Generally a good bank to be with Disadvantages: They always seem to give me the trainee
...to the days of the Halifax Building Society I remember the good old junior savings accounts with the little books and stuff like that. Not quite as exciting as the china pigs Lloyds used to offer (I think it was Lloyds anyway), but mum always told me the interest is better.
Coming back to the current day where the savings book is all but redundant, the interest is still better. Up to 40 times better so they claim, and that’s just on their ... ...is where I feel the Halifax is really starting to show who’s boss, and the way they are doing this it through their website. The structure of this I’ll come back to but the accounts they offer through it, namely the websavers are a pair of gems when it comes to common sense banking. For me at least anyway. Since discovering internet banking I’ve moved nearly all my money around using the transfer method. Now I’ve read other ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Independence, easier to get than a normal bank account Disadvantages: No cheque card or overdraft facility
...ago I set up a Halifax Cardcash account. I originally set it up just to have my Family Allowance paid into. At the time I set it up, all I needed to do was give Halifax some identification and £10 to start the account (although I think that has gone up to £50 now). I only had about £60 per month going into the account, but that was plenty. Cardcash is a sort of truncated bank account for people with credit issues or a lack of credit history, which ... ...and overdraft charges.
My Halifax Cardcash account also allows me to set up direct debits and standing orders to pay my bills, mortgage, insurance policies, television licence and all manner of other things.
There is a telephone banking service but I never use it because the Internet banking service is fantastic. It was very easy to set up - a quick phone call to the helpline to answer some questions, a pin number through the post in a couple of ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: good staff, easy application process Disadvantages: I am still still waiting for one
I have been with the Halifax for about six years now, and have had no problems whatsoever. I have had a savings account for that time, and from when I first started, I have had no complaints. The staff were very friendly and helpful when I went in and told them what I wanted, and it did not take long for them to set up my account. Only a book account as I was so young, but as soon as I turned 16 and started earning some money, they gave me a cardcash ... ...Applying for the different services at the Halifax was a delight. The process took less than ten minutes per product, and the staff were very helpful. I even got a card from one of the advisors, and she encouraged me to ring her if I had any problems. ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: good for 1st time buyers Disadvantages: did not offer a good rate after fixed term ended, overcharge customers
...*This is the second review I posted on Ciao and have edited it as it needed more information and an update*
For the purpose of this review I am writing about my experience of having a mortgage with Halifax and am not reviewing Halifax and it’s services as a whole. I am very much aware that for some they have had a great experience with them, but for me after being a loyal customer for such a long time. I felt that they had let me down and recently I realised that I had overpaid when my mortgage came to an end and successfully received a refund from them.
Halifax is a leading building society and has been providing mortgages for many years. I had been a customer of Halifax for over 10 years as my parents insisted when I was younger that I had a Building Society savings account (at the time it was the Little Extra Club) so that...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Handy to keep an eye on your account Disadvantages: none so far
...After having problems with my previous bank, I decided to open an account with halifax, this was about five years ago.
The reason I chose Halifax
Well they were always advertised on tv and I needed a new account for my wages to be paid into, so I went in made an appointment and opened my current account, which did`nt take long and the staff were friendly and helpful.
Other services available at Halifax
Credit cards
Mortgages
Personnel loans
Savings and Investments
Insurance
Share Dealing
However I basically use my account as a savings account and dont have any Shares or Credit cards through Halifax.
Five years later
Five years on and I cant say anything bad about the services provided by Halifax, Eighteen months ago was when I first started to use online banking, I found their web address at the back of my...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Manage all your financial transactions online Disadvantages: can't deposit!
...have been a customer of the Halifax Bank for over 30 years now. When they first introduced on line banking I immediately signed up to this and what a boon it has been! Signing up is an easy process and you are required to choose a user name and password and to provide answers to several security questions.
Once you have received your logging in details from the Halifax signing in is simple. You just have to log in with your user name, password and the answer to a security question. On gaining access to your acount your account information will be displayed.
It is possible to have most of your accounts included in the online service including current accounts, mortgages, loans, credit cards etc
Once you have registered you are able to conduct most of your banking transactions online including setting up standing orders and direct...
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