I’ve been accused in previous ops as being less than fair to the good folk up north. Apologies were made at the time, but now I would like to give something back. I would like to congratulate them on their incredible ability to produce good banks. The best of them all has to be the Halifax.
The Halifax, or soon to be the HBOS (when they merge with the Bank of Scotland, another great northern financial institute) has served me well for much of my life, in fact all of it. If I look back far enough 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 current account. But lets face it, if an extra percent or 2 is going to make a difference to the balance of you current account, your money is in the wrong place. Where the percentage really starts to make a difference is in savings.
This 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 ops on ciao saying empty all your current accounts into an Egg account and then put the money back in when you need it – Good idea but flawed if you often need money quickly, say you’re a impulsive shopper like me for instance. How long does it take to transfer funds from Egg to any other bank, the same time it takes to transfer money to between any two banks, 3 – 5 working days. That is at least 3 days to long. What’s the answer? Keep your accounts with the same bank. Then the whole process only takes 3-5 working seconds and your cash is getting a better rate of interest. The best way I’ve found to do this is have a Halifax websaver and a current account.
Some peoples response to that may well be, “You won’t be getting the best deal”. Funny, that was mine when I first looked at doing this. So I went to every online bank and lot of offline ones to see who offered the best deals on savings. Guess who won. My research took into account average interest rates and potential loss of interest during those 5 days when your money is in limbo between banks. Trust me the Halifax won, and if you do the same calculations now, you’ll probably find the same. If you don’t, think of the hassle saved by keeping your accounts with one bank.
So you’ll better off with the Halifax, but what other advantages are there?
Their network of branches has been the clincher for me way before the internet came along. I’ve yet to go to a town that doesn’t have a Halifax of some sort, maybe not a full blown bank, but certainly an estate agent whom will happily offer you banking services on any card or book based account you hold with them. How many HSBC customers can say that? Umm, none of them.
As for the service, yes on the odd occasion I’ve waited to long and they always seem to give me the trainee. But seeing as you get a cheque book, switch card and interest free overdraft as standard on your current account, plus all the other ups of being with best bank in Yorkshire, I’m happyish to wait. Of course if the queue’s to long I can always go back in on a Sunday when they’re a bit quieter, did I mention they open on Sundays (at least in Oxford anyway), oh and they have longer opening hours than any other high street bank during the week. I’m beginning to feel like I belong to some exclusive club with all these benefits, but I don’t, just a bank.
Their website is another advantage. For some reason many people have said www.halifax-online.co.uk is one of the worst out there, ok I can think of improvements, namely to speed the dame thing up, but as a site it’s easy to navigate and quick to enter. More than can be said for Barclays offering which is a bit like trying to get severed in one of their branches, a complicated and annoying experience. Halifax online also offers a free copy of PC-cillinvirus protection software to its customers, another little bonus.
Now I normally at this point in an op have some sort of a moan about the product. So considering that I trust these people with all my money, minus a few quid here and there lying around in banks I haven’t been so happy with (I’ve tried a few, but I’ve always come back to the old favourite), the only thing I have to say is don’t use their credit cards. They are over priced and don’t offer any kind of reward scheme.
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Comments about this review »
floater 02.06.2006 01:02
Have had a great relationship with this bank myself and I would agree are generally a safer bet than certain others.
killip 18.07.2004 16:53
I don't bank with the Halifax (I bank with Abbey) but completely agree with you when you say it's even easier to have all your account in the one place. I'm keeping my savings with the Yorkshire Building Society though; hedging my bets for shares (I become eligible in 6 months-ish if they ever demutualise).
helencbradshaw 29.10.2001 12:04
Good op, I use the Halifax web site too, and it is easy to move money around. However, I am not a satisfied customer, due to my recent experiences, in what I thought was an easy transaction. And you are right, they try and flog you something every time you visit them or telephone them, however, not sure what banks don't in these competitive times.
However, as it seems like hard work to move things, and I am locked in on my mortgage till next September, I will see if the service improves in the meantime, before making any hasty decisions, have been with the Halifax for twenty years.
Jul 10th, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
