Get your Hali-facts straight! (Halifax)

Member Name: jo1976

Product:	Halifax
Date:	25/06/09 (142 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Market leading financial products, good online banking

Disadvantages: Poor customer service in branch, over selling of products

I am, in banking terms, a relatively new customer of Halifax bank having had a current account with them for two years now. I've heard the saying that people are more likely to get divorced than change their bank accounts and I do think there's a certain amount of truth in that, as most of us are guilty of apathy when it comes to our personal finance. It just so happened that Halifax were offering a bribe, I mean 'new customer incentive', of £100 at the time I was looking for a joint current account after getting married and a new fiscal relationship was born!

I actually opened what was then a High Interest current account with Halifax back in 2007. I opened the account online which seemed relatively straightforward at the time and then received all the relevant paperwork through the post within a matter of days. The £100 incentive that had attracted me to the account in the first place was dependent on a number of conditions being met within a set timescale.

One of the conditions was that I needed to use Halifax's own 'switching service' to transfer direct debits and standing orders from my previous current account. This took about a month to process altogether and wasn't a totally seamless transition by any means, as one of my direct debits somehow went astray and never actually made the trip over to my new Halifax account (and to this day is still debited from my old A&L account!) I also needed to credit the account with a minimum of £1000 each month to qualify for the incentive money. Provided all of this was complied with by the specified timescales, I was assured that £100 would be credited into the account after three months of funding the account with at least £1000 per month.

Well, three months came and went and...no money. I am lucky enough to have a local Halifax branch within easy reach so I asked in there and was assured that all the conditions had been met and that the money would be in my account shortly. A month or so later, still nothing and a further fruitless trip into the branch ensued. I actually made four seperate visits to the branch and each time I was assured that the missing incentive payment would be 'looked into' and would be paid 'shortly' and I was also promised telephone calls back that never materialised either.

It was actually well over six months after opening my Halifax account that I began to lose hope of ever receiving the £100 incentive money but I thought one last ditch attempt was in order. I eventually made a complaint in writing to the main Customer Relations Office in Leeds, having become totally frustrated with the customer service in branch over this issue. This was obviously a more effective strategy as I received written acknowledgement of the complaint, a follow up telephone call and, most importantly, the long-awaited cash within a couple of weeks of making the complaint. It's unfortunate that my issues needed to go that far in the first place but I certainly couldn't criticise the way (and speed) in which my complaint was resolved.

Despite a fairly inauspicious start to this banking relationship, I am generally pleased with the Halifax as a bank overall. I tend to keep visits in branch to a minimum and use it purely to deposit cash and cheques as Halifax are one of the worst culprits for trying to push additional products or services. Whenever I go to a cashier I will be told about the latest mortgage offer available or the current offer on credit cards or savings accounts. I appreciate that banks are a business and need to maximise profits but it is irritating being targeted in this fashion (particularly as the offers promoted are rarely market-leading and I could almost certainly find a better offer elsewhere.)

Thankfully, Halifax current accounts can be accessed online. The whole setting up and accessing of the online banking service is very straightforward and I have never had any issues or difficulties with the online service. I also use Alliance & Leicester online banking and, of the two, I much prefer Halifax. For one reason, my log-in details include letters and numbers and I find that much easier to remember rather than the totally random eight digit number provided by A&L.

As well as my own account, I have subsequently opened savings accounts for both my children through the Halifax. This was not through blind customer loyalty but because the children's savings account offered the highest interest rate at the time. I have opened both the 'Save4It' children's savings account, which can be opened with just £1 and includes a free money box as well as 'Regular savings' accounts for children. The Regular savings account is still available and (as at June 2009) still pays an impressive 6% fixed rate of interest. The catch is that you have to pay in between £10-£100 per month for a year. I've only got one minor criticism about my experience with the children's accounts and that is over tax. As non-tax payers, they are entitled to receive their interest tax free. I was assured, when opening the most recent account for my youngest son, that his tax status would be updated via their computer systems and that I no longer had to fill in a seperate form. I should know by now not to take such assurances for granted from Halifax branch staff as, lo and behold, he was taxed on his interest! I knew I should have just filled in the bloody form regardless of what they were telling me!

I've recently switched our supposedly High Interest current account, which had seen its interest rate plummet from 6% down to next to nothing, over to a Reward account. This is the account that has been very heavily promoted recently as it pays a pretty generous £5 (net of tax) per account, every month, providing at least £1000 is paid in every month. The catch - yes, there's always a catch - is that there is a set fee of £1 per day for every day that the account is overdrawn so, if you don't keep on top of your finances, the account could actually end up costing you a small fortune.

Switching over from one Halifax account to another should be a pretty straightforward process but it's actually taken several weeks to sort out the whole process. (I had to make an appointment in branch to 'discuss my needs' - ie: sit there while an advisor tried to sell me other Halifax products.) I also had to bring a form home for my husband to sign, as we have a joint account. I handed this back in to the branch a week later, only to later discover that the form had been mislaid and had to complete another. This time I was told by the advisor to hand the form back to him personally. How reassuring that he has such little faith in his colleagues! Nice to know that these people are looking after my money!

All in all, I do feel that the Halifax is a market leader in terms of a some of the financial products available but their customer service in branch still leaves a lot of room for improvement. Thankfully, their online banking fulfills most of my banking needs!

Summary: If a bank has to pay you to bank with them, should you start worrying?!