I just love my pots of money! (halifax-online.co.uk)

Member Name: hypno06

Product:	halifax-online.co.uk
Date:	26/12/08 (202 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The ability to name your savings accounts exactly as you wish!

Disadvantages: Cannot access internet accounts over the telephone in an emergency.

This review is going to be just about the online aspect of Halifax banking - I will do another one for the branch later.

I have been a customer of Halifax for over 20 years and have been using their online banking service for about 7 or 8 years now. I have a number of accounts with various banks and like to use online banking as it is quick and easy to see what you have (or haven't) got at any time of the day or night. If you have a desk based job, like I have, it is an obvious advantage to be able to check balances or do your banking whilst at work, without having to go out in the cold and wet to the local branch!

Halifax online banking is very simple to use - once you have gone through the initial setting up of the account, which involves sending out passcodes by post, for security purposes, it is very simple. You simply log on with your user name and password and it asks you one of several security questions you have chosen yourself.

Assuming you pass security, it takes you straight through to a page where you can add in as many or as few of your accounts as you wish. You can include your mortgage and loan accounts, should you want to, as well as your savings, current accounts, and Halifax credit cards. If you have share save schemes through your employer that are run by Halifax, you can access these too - always nice to see your money building up!

Moving money between accounts, and making payments to other, outside accounts - bill paying etc, has been improved over the years and is very simple to use once you have familiarised yourself with the site. It used to be very fussy but Halifax have refined things and made it much more straightforward and user friendly.

Halifax are using the "fastpay" system too, so if you make a payment from your account, it can be at the other end in just a few minutes - excellent if you are moving money between banks as there is no delay in getting cleared funds where you want them to be.

The best thing, in my opinion, about the online service, however, is the ability to have several "pots" of savings accounts online which all have separate account numbers, but which you get to choose a name. So for example I have accounts for "next year's holiday", "rainy day money", "car maintenance" etc - This makes it a whole lot easier to see what you have in each budget without trying to remember which account number relates to which aim.

It is this reason, primarily, that I have stayed with Halifax. I like the fact that I can log on, and see clearly what I have got saved towards my Christmas shopping, or my car tax or whatever, without having to try and memorise all those numbers!

On the odd occasion that I have forgotten my password (having a senior moment or two!) I have found their technical support very helpful.

My only criticism would be that you cannot access e-saver accounts which you opened online if you need to transfer money over the phone. I had occasion once where I needed to move money from my savings to my current account but did not have access to the internet, so called phone banking and they said that they couldn't do it because it was an internet account. This was most frustrating, but I suppose it is fairly standard for most banks so it just has to be put up with.

All in all, banking online with Halifax is a fairly painless process, and is certainly one of their strong points.

Summary: All in all, a decent online banking service.