Halifax Rewards: £5 bonus and free cinema ticket scrapped

Bad news as changes are coming for our favourite reward current account.

We’ve been big fans of the Halifax Reward account since it’s launch, but with a revamp on the cards customers are set to lose their monthly perk. Here’s what we know so far.

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What is the Halifax Reward account?

As it stands the Halifax Reward account is a current account that offers a monthly ‘Reward Extra’ perk if you meet a spending or saving criteria. You’ve been able to chose between:

• £5 in your account
• 1 Vue cinema ticket
• 3 digital magazines

You select one reward every 12 months, though you can also have three Reward accounts, meaning you could double or triple up on one perk, or mix and match.

The Extra would last for a year, and you’d then have to either choose to renew it, or swap to a different choice,

Personally I’ve been claiming the £5 across three accounts each month, adding up to a nice £180 profit each year.

The account comes with a £3 monthly fee, though that can be avoided by paying in £1,500 each month, meaning no one needs to be charged this. You can read more about it in our full Halifax Reward account review.

How are the rewards changing?

Halifax told me that the whole account is being revamped, and that there will be new rewards later this year – but they couldn’t tell me what these are just yet. The new features will be announced in July.

All we know is what is going – and that’s the Reward Extra perk. For new customers, you can’t add on your Extra from 17 June 2025. For existing customers you won’t be able renew or switch your perk from the same date.

Of my three accounts, one is due to renew in July and another in August, so that likely means I’ll only get two rewards in July and one a month from August.

Then, from 30 September 2025, anyone who is still earning a reward will stop receiving it. Presumably this is when the replacement rewards will begin.

The £3 monthly fee is remaining, as is the ability to cancel it out with a £1,500 deposit each month.

Why are Halifax making the changes?

According to Halifax, most Reward account customers don’t actually select a reward, and only a little over a third actually then qualify each month to receive their chosen perk.

Other account changes

One change that has been revealed is that from 1 August 2025 the Halifax Reward debit card will be fee-free to use overseas. This follows a similar change to the Club Lloyds card last month. That’s good news, but there are many other options that also don’t charge for spending abroad., including a few that’ll earn you cashback.

A rare £100 interest-free overdraft was added earlier this year, which is a handy extra if you sometimes go below zero – though it’s worth noting that under the current Reward Extra rules doing so would mean you don’t qualify for the perk.

Should you ditch Halifax Rewards?

It’s obviously a big disappointment that we’ll no longer receive the cash or cinema ticket on up to three accounts, but it’s far too early to say if this change will mean you’re better off moving your banking elsewhere.

So until we know what the replacement rewards are (and we’ll let you know as soon as we find out), I’d stay put and ensure you’re claiming your freebies while you can.