Money News
If you havent already applied for Halifax's £100 current account switching offer, you've missed the boat! According to the bank, the "huge success" of offer means that it will end early - midnight on Friday 16 March, instead of 23 March.
The deal, which began on 5 February, aimed to get customers of other banks to switch their current account to a Halifax current account and fund it with regular payments of at least £1,000 per month.
The £100 switchers' payment applied to customers who switched to the Halifax High Interest Current Account or Ultimate Reward Current Account, both of which pay 6% Gross on credit balances up to £2,500, and the Moneyback Current Account which pays 1% cashback on debit card purchases and has an authorised overdraft rate of just 6.9% EAR.
The £100 payment will be paid into accounts opened by switchers by the end of the month following the month in which the second payment of £1,000 into the account is made.
Halifax has declined to say how many people went for the offer but given that there is no requirement to maintain the account after the switching payment is received the question has to be how many of these new customers will the bank retain?
It's become easier to switch your current account with the banks being required to hand over direct debit and standing order payment information to ensure a smooth transfer. Changes to the Banking Code implemented last year mean that your existing bank may no longer drag its feet about handing over information.
Your old bank is also required to provide details of your standing orders and direct debits within three working days of receiving a request from your new bank. Yet only about 600,000 people change banks each year.
16 March 2007 © Moneyextra.com
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