Halifax Current Account...7% interest...

Fabio

Hi guys,

I'm a final year undergrad student and have a Student Account with Ulster Bank at the moment. Now I don't really use any of the student type services that come with the account such as the interest-free overdraft and such but I do hold a student credit card with them which has a nice limit of €440 so you can't go too mad.

Anyway I've seen that Halifax are now offering interest of 7% on their current accounts as long as there ain't more than €2000 in the account and I'm seriously thinking of switching over to them but have one or two questions that might be able to be covered on here...

- Is it worth switching? I mean, at the moment I am getting no interest on my account with UB but at the same time I have an e-Savings account with them that pays only about 3% interest (they've been reducing that interest since I opended the account...you get 4% or something if you have over 10 grand though - i don't!!!).

- My Ulster Bank credit card is handy but I can always just get a Halifax credit card if I want even though their ATM card is Visa Debit one so...

- I have slightly more than €2000 with UB split between the current account and e-Savings account so I'd have to open up another savings account with Halifax in order to stay under the €2000 limit on the 7% right?

- Last Question!!! What about charges? Will I have to go and pay more government duties for switching my account and new card and stuff???

Thanks a million for reading all of this even you can't help me out but would appreciate if you could! Thanks!

jor el

Wrong forum.

dudara

Moved to Banking & Insurance & Pensions

dudara

Fabio

Sorry about having it in wrong forum guys!

Ogham

You only get that 7% if you put 1500 through the account each month. I assume as a student that you wouldn't be earning that much a month?:)

Fabio

Ugh...€1500 a month has to be lodged in to the account not just kept there

Well thanks for the reply Ogham, sorts that one out!

delllat

Fabio wrote: »

Ugh...€1500 a month has to be lodged in to the account not just kept there

Well thanks for the reply Ogham, sorts that one out!

Check this out:

a while ago halifax was offering 10% interest on balances up to 2000 with the same condition of lodging 1500 a month

so i opened a current account and lodged 2000 with halifax and then went to my aib account and set up a direct debit of 2000 a month going to the halifax account leavinng 4000 in the halifax account

then i went to my halifax account and set up another direct debit to send 2000 back to the aib account every month

every month this will earn you 20euro to have a couple of drinks at the banks expense

Ogham

More like 13 euro after tax - but still nice if it works. "Money for nothing" I still think the OP might have difficulty opening an account if not employed - but I could be wrong.

sodabread

I'm in a similar situation to OP.

Am curretnly a student and have no regular source of income.

The good news is that I have a halifax current a/c. When applying they now have an option to tick "occupation" as "student", which eradicates the need to prove you have a regular source of income.

I chose to fund the account with 1500 monthly by S.O from my NIB a/c and have the same transferring back to NIB some five days later so I qualify for the interest!

All in all quite a good deal !:D

none

delllat wrote: »

Check this out:

a while ago halifax was offering 10% interest on balances up to 2000 with the same condition of lodging 1500 a month

so i opened a current account and lodged 2000 with halifax and then went to my aib account and set up a direct debit of 2000 a month going to the halifax account leavinng 4000 in the halifax account

then i went to my halifax account and set up another direct debit to send 2000 back to the aib account every month

every month this will earn you 20euro to have a couple of drinks at the banks expense

Hi,
I was yesterday at a local Halifax branch opening a Savings account and they convinced me to also give their Current account a go The guy basically described the same trick as you: moving EUR 1500 one day from another bank to Halifax and the following day moving the same amount back to the same bank. I said it sounds like a trick and he confirmed it but acknowledge it's a legitimate one. OK, sounds good so far. Can you just please clarify a few point?
1) Well, does it really work like this? I mean, if I have zero balance and only move certain amount to and from Halifax current account at specific dates, do I earn an interest?
2) If point 1 works, what are the limits/requirements? I can lodge minimum EUR 1500 every month? And in total I may accrue interest on balances up to EUR 2000 every month?
3) If point 1 works, what is the minimum time the money must be on my Halifax account to kick off the interest?
Cheers!

Davy

none wrote: »

1) Well, does it really work like this? I mean, if I have zero balance and only move certain amount to and from Halifax current account at specific dates, do I earn an interest?

Yes

none wrote: »

2) If point 1 works, what are the limits/requirements? I can lodge minimum EUR 1500 every month? And in total I may accrue interest on balances up to EUR 2000 every month?

Yes but only accrue interest on balances up to €1500 from October 30th.

none wrote: »

3) If point 1 works, what is the minimum time the money must be on my Halifax account to kick off the interest?
Cheers!

Doesn't state a minimum time

none

Grand, thanks:)

MarkR

But if you move all of your money out, you'll be getting 7% for just the one day, don't you have to have a standing balance for any interest to be earned?

100gSoma

MarkR wrote: »

But if you move all of your money out, you'll be getting 7% for just the one day, don't you have to have a standing balance for any interest to be earned?

correct. As far as I am aware interest is calculated daily and paid monthly to avoid 1 day in and 1 day out profiteers.

from Halifax website "We calculate the interest on the balance in your account at the end of every day and credit it to your account monthly. The amount of interest you earn will vary depending on how much money is in your account."

hellbent

Halifax have written to old EXISTING customers this week to announce that the interest of 7% would only be paid on €1500 per month from now on, instead of on the €2000 it paid out on up to now. I think that NEW customers already were subject to this $1500 limit. So, expect Halifax to continue this downward trend in interest on their current account - afaik only 4% is paid in their UK accounts.
If you want the full months benefit, you need to keep this €1500 in the account for the full month, not put it in for a day, then whip it out again.

Why not just open an account with Halifax and be done with it. The interest rate might diminish over a couple of years, but it is far in excess of what you get on deposit, even in the risky high-interest rate banks like Anglo.

none

Hi,

Thanks for your thoughts but since they're a bit conflicting, I'm not sure what is the requirement to get this interest on current account. How long should EUR1500 be kept there? A couple of days won't work?

I'm also still confused with all these movements and monthly limits. If I just put there EUR1500 and don't touch it for a year - will I get the 7% interest? Or I need to add EUR1500 each month? Or I can just move the same amount (EUR1500) out and back in (say out on 30th and back in on 1st of the following month) to make an illusion of movements?

Thanks

Davy

none wrote: »

I'm also still confused with all these movements and monthly limits. If I just put there EUR1500 and don't touch it for a year - will I get the 7% interest? Or I need to add EUR1500 each month? Or I can just move the same amount (EUR1500) out and back in (say out on 30th and back in on 1st of the following month) to make an illusion of movements?

This is what you should do. To get the max interest, €1500 has to be in the account all the time. You can put €1500 in and leave it their always.
Then once a month transfer an extra €1500 and then transfer it back out again leaving €1500 always their gaining interest.

none

Thanks, Davy:) Let's just clarify it once and for good.

1) I need to keep EUR1500 in my current account for a year to get that interest.

2) But point 1 isn't sufficient on its own so I also have to transfer another EUR1500 in and out every month (leaving it on the balance for at least a day).

3) So I will have EUR1500 all the time except for those 12 days (a day each month) when I will have EUR3000 (permanent EUR1500 + daily EUR1500 ).

Does it cover everything?

Klingon Hamlet

The point of a curent account is for spending not saving so normally a wage is lodged Day 1, debits come out, transactions at ATM and by Laser, so by the end of the month your balance will ahve reduced (or like me gotten very cosy with the number zero).

Now the interest is calculated daily. Meaning at the end of each day a percentage of the existing balance is calculated (in this case 7% divided by 365) and the daily interest amounts are held until the end of the month. As each day passes your balance is shrinking and shrinking, so the daily interest is getting lower and lower.

Klingon Hamlet

none wrote: »

Thanks, Davy:) Let's just clarify it once and for good.

1) I need to keep EUR1500 in my current account for a year to get that interest.

2) But point 1 isn't sufficient on its own so I also have to transfer another EUR1500 in and out every month (leaving it on the balance for at least a day).

3) So I will have EUR1500 all the time except for those 12 days (a day each month) when I will have EUR3000 (permanent EUR1500 + daily EUR1500 ).

Does it cover everything?

Do your transfers/debits cost you anything? They may do, maybe even negating any profit you're making.

Davy

none wrote: »

1) I need to keep EUR1500 in my current account for a year to get that interest.

No, interest is paid monthly, you dont need to leave it in for a year.

none wrote: »

2) But point 1 isn't sufficient on its own so I also have to transfer another EUR1500 in and out every month (leaving it on the balance for at least a day).

Point 1 will do, but you would have to transfer the amount out of the account, and transfer bank into. To gain interest on any sum to a max of €1500, you must lodge €1500 into the account each month.

none wrote: »

3) So I will have EUR1500 all the time except for those 12 days (a day each month) when I will have EUR3000 (permanent EUR1500 + daily EUR1500 ).

Does it cover everything?

That covers everything yes doing it that way, you will get the maximum amount of interest doing it that way.

100gSoma

Klingon Hamlet wrote: »

Do your transfers/debits cost you anything? They may do, maybe even negating any profit you're making.

There are no fees fro standing orders or Direct Debits or transfers with the Halifax current account.