Halifax/Bank of Scotland Megathread - Read Post #1 First!

CountingCrows

Hi Everyone - Toots* here,

Following on from the announcement that Halifax/BOSI are withdrawing their retail and intermediary banking services from Ireland, naturally a lot of threads are popping up with people wondering what is going to happen next.

Here is a link to the official announcement on the Halifax Ireland homepage.

This thread is for discussing alternatives to Halifax/BOSI products ie: Credit Cards, Loans, Current Accounts & Savings Accounts. Any existing threads on these topics will be merged to this thread. Queries or advice on the above can be posted here, however please read the thread rules before you post.

An addition to the current forum rules contained in the Charter, the following rules apply to this thread:

• Think before you post.
  This is an issue that affects both customers and staff. A lot of people are losing their jobs, and a lot of customers will be worried and inconvenienced to say the least. Please take the sensitivity of the situation into account before posting on this thread. Any inflammatory/trollish remarks will not be tolerated, and users will be infracted or banned without further warning.
• No Speculating!!!
  I can't stress this one enough. Halifax customers have enough to be worrying about without people posting ill-informed speculation about what will happen with savings/debts etc. Halifax will be in touch with customers in the coming weeks to advise them what steps they need to take.
• Link your source.
  If you're posting information that is/was given on the news/ by the Regulator/ by Halifax BOSI/ from another source etc, please provide a like to the information you are referring to, so people can read the full story for themselves.
• Be polite.
  This is a touchy subject for all concerned, however please refrain from getting into arguments on thread with other posters. If you have a problem with a post, use the 'Report Post' function.

These rules may be changed/updated as the thread progresses, so please make sure to check here before posting.

If you have any questions on the above, PM Toots* or one of the Category Moderators - jor el and dudara.

---

CountingCrows' Original Post:

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/fear-for-jobs-as-bank-of-scotland-about-to-make-key-irish-decision-2054197.html

Bank of Scotland (Ireland) (BoSI) is understood to be preparing a major announcement on its future in Ireland, prompting fresh fears about the security of its 1600-strong workforce.

From what I've heard it looks like there'll be a large number of redundancies and multiple divisions withdrawing from the Irish market, including retail.

CountingCrows

Announcement brought forward to 3pm today

mailforkev

Pulling out completely according to Newstalk 3pm bulletin.

link

100gSoma

No way! The first bank I have actually enjoyed being with was Halifax. That's brutal.

CountingCrows

Very surprised its a complete withdrawal. Bad news for all concerned.

jor el

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0209/bankofscotlandireland.html
According to RTE, it's just the Halifax side of things, with the business banking remaining. That's still a huge blow, and 750 jobs gone.

billbond4

Ok so they will just be dealing with corporate business from now on.
Any winding down the retail side of things.

Jet Black

Suprised too at the complete withdrawl. I know a few people that work there. Sad to hear it.

PGL

i have one of those high interest savings accounts with Halifax - can anyone tell me what are the implications for me?

cheers

100gSoma

I know its WAY to early to say with any certainty, but what will happen to all the current accounts?

Jet Black

I would say either the accounts will be closed and a cheque for the balance sent out. Or they could be transfered to another bank.

thewools

My aunt and numerous friends after getting the bad news half an hour ago. They are all based in the Dundalk office...

Banks aren't untouchable anymore which is scary for everyone in the banking sector.

Wile E. Coyote

Could this be BOSI's way of forcing through a quick merger between themselves, EBS, INBS and Permanent TSB?

herya

100gSoma wrote: »

No way! The first bank I have actually enjoyed being with was Halifax. That's brutal.

Me too. Off to Ulster Bank I guess but still it's a pity. They gave me excellent service all round and were always polite and helpful. It must be a dreadful day for so many decent people in Halifax branches. Thanks for your great work guys and gals.

Stheno

herya wrote: »

Me too. Off to Ulster Bank I guess but still it's a pity. They gave me excellent service all round and were always polite and helpful. It must be a dreadful day for so many decent people in Halifax branches. Thanks for your great work guys and gals.

+1 to that, always got lovely service in the branches the odd time I was in there.

Very sorry to read of the loss of so many jobs.

ncmc

What terrible news for the 750 being made redundant, my heart goes out to them.

Can anyone guess what the implications will be for those who have credit cards with them? My husband and I both have Halifax credit cards with €2k + owing on them. We really can't afford to pay them off in one go. Really worried about this.

Lux23

ncmc wrote: »

What terrible news for the 750 being made redundant, my heart goes out to them.

Can anyone guess what the implications will be for those who have credit cards with them? My husband and I both have Halifax credit cards with €2k + owing on them. We really can't afford to pay them off in one go. Really worried about this.

You won't have too.

Jet Black

The credit cards could be taken over by another company. In 2008 halifax took over barcleys irish credit card section. The only thing that changed was some terms. The card was still valid but payments were made to the halifax instead.

The other thing they could do is keep the debt with the business banking section and have you make monthly payments like a loan until its clear. It would be unreasonable from them to expect all its customers (some of which have debts of 10k plus) to pay it back in a short time.

Jet Black

Lux23 wrote: »

You won't have too.

I very much doubt the bank is going to write off millions in debt. It can easily be sold or collected through its business banking section.

Lux23

Jet Black wrote: »

I very much doubt the bank is going to write off millions in debt. It can easily be sold or collected through its business banking section.

Yes thats what I mean.

djmarkus

I'm going to miss my visa debit card

Toots

According to their statement on the news this evening, customers will be written to, to advise what will happen to their accounts next. I don't think it will do any good to speculate on it at this stage.

In addition, considering that this will have a huge effect not only on customers, but on the staff especially, I would ask that posters bear this in mind when replying to this thread. This is obviously a sensitive topic, so please treat it as such. Any inflammatory nonsense will not be tolerated.

DublinWriter

I switched my business account to BOS in 2004 after BOI (who I had been with for six years previously) had the nerve to tell me that they would be charging me for Internet Banking.

I'll miss their retail offering, they really shook up a very conservative collective rip-off banking product in this country and were one of the first to bring in Offset Mortgages...in Irish terms that was the equivalent of getting an abortion referendum passed.

adox

I have a savings account and mortgage with them and always found them a pleasure to deal with. The staff at the Swords branch were always super polite and helpful.

I`m more worried about what will happen with the mortgage end of things than the savings. I can transfer the savings to another account but I will wait and see what happens with the mortgage, and more specificly the interest rates. They have been very competitive for existing customers so lets hope they dont start shooting up after the closure. Just sit tight and see what happens.

ScouseMouse

Bank of Scotland Ireland do business banking and retail (Halifax). I deal with both and they will be a big loss. Just tonight I got a "how are things" call from AIB and I gave the guy what for.

I have always found Halifax to go the extra bit and it was so easy to pop into the branch in the square for an update on my savings accounts.

They will be badly missed and I do feel quite badly for all the staff who will be let go. What bank is taking anyone on at the moment?

Bank of Scotland Ireland will continue but will not be dealing with retail banking. They have a massive amount of commercial loans on their books (including a million of mine) and cannot go anywhere. Its quite possible they will look after any house mortgages belonging to Halifax but stop providing any new mortgages.

Hopefully something will come up that it can be saved.

stepbar

DublinWriter wrote: »

I switched my business account to BOS in 2004 after BOI (who I had been with for six years previously) had the nerve to tell me that they would be charging me for Internet Banking.

I'll miss their retail offering, they really shook up a very conservative collective rip-off banking product in this country and were one of the first to bring in Offset Mortgages...in Irish terms that was the equivalent of getting an abortion referendum passed.

I'll think you'll find (for that very reason) that's why they're in the doo doo they're in at the moment. Lucky that they have the support of Lloyds / British Government, otherwise there might have been a second bank nationalised in this state.

adox

More information for current Halifax mortgage holders:
http://www.halifax.ie/node/2

rabbitinlights

Awful news, like has been said before, they are the only bank I've been happy with.....

Who else does Visa Debit cards as I use this service pretty much daily....

S.

Davy

superscouse wrote: »

Its quite possible they will look after any house mortgages belonging to Halifax but stop providing any new mortgages.

I think thats the way it will go.

I have my main current account with them since they opened and have nothing but good things to say about them. Unfortunately i have been with a few of the other irish banks and not longing forward to switching bank to them. No more handy saturday banking.

In the grand scheme of things, customers will move bank, but the workers might not have an option too. Not a nice thing.

almalahide

So Upset for the staff who I have got to know well in Swords since I switched a few years back. UB Charges dont make me jump for joy but ill have no choice. Excellent bank Halifax, I wish someone would buy it and build it.

jaffa20

I switched my current account from ulsterbank a few months back because was having a terrible time with them and halifax were very swift with the switchover and i love their visa debit card.

Now i'm gonna have to go crawling back to ulster bank as they are now offering the same card.

It's terrible news for the large amount of staff affected. Surely a merger could have worked.

almalahide

Or even a scale down/online bank or just something to keep it alive with current accounts and grow it! A merger could be good once the customer care side came from Halifax/ebs lol. Obv this road was checked i would love to know why it would not work?

Redmen Rule OK

djmarkus wrote: »

I'm going to miss my visa debit card

Ulster Bank are issuing Visa Debit cards now to all current account customers.:)

http://www.ulsterbank.ie/roi/personal/daily-banking/current-accounts/card.ashx

jaffa20

Redmen Rule OK wrote: »

Ulster Bank are issuing Visa Debit cards now to all current account customers.:)

http://www.ulsterbank.ie/roi/personal/daily-banking/current-accounts/card.ashx

Fees and fees included:(

makeorbrake

I don't feel i have any other option - just UB ...seeing as they are now the only ones in the marketplace with a visa debit.
What are the fees that you talk of Jaffa20?

Davy

makeorbrake wrote: »

I don't feel i have any other option - just UB ...seeing as they are now the only ones in the marketplace with a visa debit.
What are the fees that you talk of Jaffa20?

PTSB will be launching the Visa debit soon.

Their is a foreign currency fee of 1% (25cent min and €6 max)

Their is a transaction fee of 1% (25cent min and €6 max) of the value of the transaction.

These apply to POS transactions, so it wont be charged if you use it in a ATM once your in the eurozone.

cormie

Hi,
With the unfortunate news of Halifax pulling out of Ireland and my main reason for being with them being their great Visa Debit card service, I guess I'll have to find an alternative now!

I've heard Ulster Bank offer something similar. Besides not being able to deposit to it up until 5pm weekdays and 12 noon on Saturdays (as Halifax was opened until these times) are there any other disadvantages with it over the Halifax one?

Are the fees and costs pretty much the same for EURO/NON EURO payments and all that? Hows their online banking?

Any feedback appreciated

jor el

Moved to banking.

sceptre

I can confirm that Ulster Bank offer a visa debit card. All new customers are being issued with one in preference to a laser card; existing customers are having their laser cards replaced with visa debit on a phased basis.

I find the UB online banking fine. Easier to use than BOI. No experience with Halifax in particular, no idea of fees as I'm on a student account.

Sparks

Does their online banking give you quicken/gnucash/csv files if you ask nice or is it just as awkward as BoI and Halifax?

Stevek101

Davy wrote: »

PTSB will be launching the Visa debit soon.

Their is a foreign currency fee of 1% (25cent min and €6 max)

Their is a transaction fee of 1% (25cent min and €6 max) of the value of the transaction.

These apply to POS transactions, so it wont be charged if you use it in a ATM once your in the eurozone.

A transaction free?! Have we gone back in time. Didn't they use to pride themselves on free day to day banking...

cormie

I've never had to add a beneficiary on my Halifax account online, with AIB you just put in their details and use a code card and you're done in 2 minutes, with BOI you have to wait a few days to get a confirmation in the post which is terrible.

Providing fees and everything are the same then I guess I'll be signing up soon unless there's any chance of them pulling out of Ireland soon themselves? What's stopping the likes of AIB offering a VISA debit card I wonder?

Hellrazer

ncmc wrote: »

Can anyone guess what the implications will be for those who have credit cards with them? My husband and I both have Halifax credit cards with €2k + owing on them. We really can't afford to pay them off in one go. Really worried about this.

According to Newstalk this morning you will have to have alternative arrangements in place by May.They want all loans and credit cards cleared before then and then all debts will be pursued in the normal way.

Have a balance that I built up before I lost my job and just been paying the minimum each month to stay afloat.Dont think I`ll have it cleared by May to be honest.

alexmcred

According to the information on their site loans will be allowed to be paid off over their agreed span. Where credit cards are concerned we may have to wait until they write to us.

Christine45

I haven't a hope in hell of paying off my credit card within that time frame. Fingers crossed they give more time to do so.

commited

Hey folks,

I'm in the fantastic situation of doing all of my banking with Halifax which means I have to move everything now. I have my current account, a savings account which is pretty much empty and a Visa credit card.

The reason I joined Halifax was their fee free banking, positive reports from mates in the UK, 6 months interest free on the CC and their loan rates were good. My experience overall hasn't been great - slowest in bank experience and everything appeared to be from the dark ages. Nothing like the UK. I digress.

I was with AIB before, and I was happy with them, but I don't want to go back to paying fees. What's my best alternative bank for Current account and CC? I clear my CC every month so I'm not really bothered about the interest rate on it.

Ta!

gleep

OK so I joined the Halifax a few months back, transferred all my banking from TSB. I got a credit card and transferred balance to it because of the 0% rate for 6 months and lowish APR.

Now I'm worried. I heard on Newstalk today that they'll be calling in all loans and Credit Card debt by end of May. I haven't a hope of paying this off by then.
Wondering as well if they can raid my current account (which is with them) to pay off my credit card account?
Does anyone have any idea what will happen in cases like this? There must be thousands in similar position.

PS - Mods - Maybe a sticky for us poor gullible Halifax customers??

amcalester

Give them a call and see what they say.

I dont think anybody has experienced this situation before.

ntlbell

just move the balance to another lender?

AntiRip

I'm in the same siuation. According to this Ulster Bank is our best alternative

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=2055824018

Oryx

Their website has an announcement.