Handling Fees

southlondoner_2

Hey guys,

Complete newbie here. Decided to get my !!!!!! in gear and read Martins book over Christmas hols so I'm ready to start saving.

Want to start stoozing and have done my research so I'm ready to start. My main question, is there any more cards at the moment that do the super balance transfer with 0% handling fee or am I too late? Can't find any anywhere!!

On a side note, if I were to open an ISA now and put my max allowance in now; would I be able to get the full years interest paid in as the tax year is nearly up or just the 3 months worth that is left? Just thought I'd ask even though it does sound too good to be true.

Anyway anyadvice much appreciated,

cheers,

Mike :j

YorkshireBoy

Click the 'Super BT's', 'Stoozing', and 'Balance Transfers' links in the blue box above your first post.

Check out https://www.stoozing.com/0fees.htm

...and the answer to your ISA question is 'just 3 months'.

magentadreamer

Regarding the ISA allowance you can pay in £3K now and then another £3K in April - after the 6th me thinks. BUT you'll only get interest on this years £3K from the date you paid it in. So only 3 months interest for this year but it would if left there all of next year earn a full years interest.

southlondoner_2

Thanks for the replies guys. Quality list YorkshireBoy. Looks like I'm too late for free handling fee's on SBT's. Looks like I'm going to have to go the slow route. Oh well, better late than never.

YorkshireBoy

southlondoner wrote:

Looks like I'm too late for free handling fee's on SBT's. Looks like I'm going to have to go the slow route.

Egg Money doesn't charge for SBT's - see the 'middle route' in the 'stoozing' article referred to in my earlier post.

southlondoner_2

YorkshireBoy wrote:

Egg Money doesn't charge for SBT's - see the 'middle route' in the 'stoozing' article referred to in my earlier post.

I phoned egg and they said its a 2% handling fee on SBT's. It also says so on their site. Perhaps I didn't hear her right and I'll try call again. After all you know much more than me on the subject.

The middle route sounds good but I'd have to apply for 2 cards at the same time as I don't have a credit card at the mo let alone a 0% one. Wouldn't that hurt my credit rating or am I quite safe considering I've got no credit cards at present?

Cheers,

Mike

YorkshireBoy

southlondoner wrote:

I phoned egg and they said its a 2% handling fee on SBT's. It also says so on their site.

I think you're (possibly) getting confused between Egg 'Money' and Egg 'Card'. With this in mind, pop back to the Egg website and take another look to see the differences between the two.

southlondoner wrote:

Wouldn't that hurt my credit rating or am I quite safe considering I've got no credit cards at present?

Everyone is different, but I also didn't have any credit cards showing on my CRA report last year when I started stoozing. After 4 applications in 8 weeks, I had stoozed 183% of my salary. This is not a recommendation - just information.

southlondoner_2

No I definitely mean the egg money card. But just done the maths and the max handling fee of £50 shouldn't outweigh the gains.

YorkshireBoy wrote:

This is not a recommendation - just information.

Well that's made my mind up!!!!!!! :beer:

YorkshireBoy

southlondoner wrote:

No I definitely mean the egg money card. But just done the maths and the max handling fee of £50 shouldn't outweigh the gains.

From the Egg Money FAQ section...

Can I transfer balances to Egg Money?
Yes, you can transfer balances from credit, charge or store cards, loans or overdrafts. There is no charge to make a balance transfer and you can ask us to transfer any amount as long as it’s less than 95% of your available credit limit.

How do I make a withdrawal?
You can make cash withdrawals from cash machines that accept MasterCard. You can withdraw a maximum of £500 per day. It’s worth noting that when you purchase travellers' cheques, these will register as a cash advance and will affect the amount of cash you can withdraw that day. We will not charge you a fee or interest for cash withdrawals when you have a positive balance. However, if a withdrawal gives you a negative balance you will be charged interest on the negative amount, but we will not charge you a fee.

You can also make a withdrawal by BACS (four day electronic transfer), to do this, please call us on 08451 233 233 and we'll arrange it for you.

Where does it say you have an SBT fee?


http://new.egg.com/visitor/0,2388,3_79766--View_1709-bID_EMonMovingFAQ-dva_1,00.html#canitransferbalancestoeggmoney?

southlondoner_2

That's what she said on the phone unless I'm getting confused with the normal egg credit card but I don't think that does SBT's, does it?

I'm really confused which is the best route now. Would would you suggest YorkshireBoy? Also, I'm disciplined so I'll be ok no matter how advanced the routine.

YorkshireBoy

southlondoner wrote:

That's what she said on the phone unless I'm getting confused with the normal egg credit card but I don't think that does SBT's, does it?

I'm really confused which is the best route now. Would would you suggest YorkshireBoy? Also, I'm disciplined so I'll be ok no matter how advanced the routine.

OK, a summary...

Egg 'Card'

• This is an SBT card
• It lets you transfer it's own limit to a current account (subject to a 2% [max £50] SBT fee)
• Every transfer you make from a negative balance in your introductory period will cost you the SBT fee above.
• Some people put the card into a +ve balance before SBT'ing to the stooze pot. From here it is possible to BACS transfer to the stooze pot, but it's a gamble with Egg's 'unusual transactions' systems (if they exist) especially if it's a large amount.
• You get 2 anniversary offers (1 in 2007 and another in 2008) where you can SBT (in your anniversary month only) for free for 5 months duration each time. Useful but it means your credit limit is wasted for 7 months of the year - possibly hindering other applications.
• You can SBT for free outside the introductory period and any special offer period, whether you BT off first or 'mule' with +ve balances.

Egg 'Money'

• You cannot (or rather shouldn't) SBT the cards own credit limit because it doesn't give 0%
• You have to feed it with another 0% BT card
• It can 'legally' carry a +ve balance because it was designed to do so.
• It doesn't charge for withdrawals from +ve balances - whether these are from cash machines, SBT's or BACS transfers.
• It's a 'ready made' stooze pot paying 4% AER on +ve balances (if you don't want to move it out to a higher paying account)
• IMHO a serious stoozer will maintain a minimal credit limit on this card so as not to affect applications for other cards.

Useful reading...

What is a super balance transfer
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1085355871,12390,
Revenge - make money from credit cards
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1076883546,34894,
Best balance transfers
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1107182516,76509,
The stoozing website
https://www.stoozing.com
Egg Money stoozing analysis/discussion
http://www.stoozing.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1126159522

As to 'which would I recommend?', I'd rather you researched for yourself and made your own decision based on the information available.