Is it really this easy!

Luffer

Im considering trying to earn some money back from the credit card companies, and have read many threads on here with interest.

But do I understand the principles correctly, as it seems so simple?

Currently I have an Egg card with no balance, which is not in its interest free period.

I have a second card (Card A) with a 7k 0% limit, expiring May. As I understand, I transfer this to my Egg Card (Egg) as a £7k balance transfer, then transfer the new £7k positive balance on Egg into my Egg savings account. (Can I SBT into an Egg savings account or do I need to route via my current account?), paying 5.5% interest on my interest free cash.

I Keep up min monthly payment to Card A from current account , which is then the same as saving the min payment I would make to card A. (as it comes off the amount of the final transfer required to repay the borrowing)

Card A's 0% offer ends May, but my Egg anniversary is April, so come April I then transfer the Card A balance to Green Egg for another 5 months @0% borrowing, all the while accruing the interest in the savings account


Finally - (stupid I know), I have destroyed the physical green egg card to ensure last time I did a balance transfer (to a seperate card only) I didnt use the card. Am I safe taking the card number from the details appearing in my account as a cut & paste?

An understanding check would be usefull as this seems to good to be true, and I trust the saying ' If it seems to good to be true, it usually is!)

Rafter

Sounds about right.

You just need to watch if Card A charges you a balance transfer fee which wipes out the gain you can make.

I think the transfer to savings will have to go via a current account rather than direct to your egg savings.

Technically what you are doing is against the Egg terms and conditions too and you may find moving big sums around you fall foul of a money laundering investigation.

R.

Luffer

Thanks Rafter,

Sounds about right.

Technically what you are doing is against the Egg terms and conditions too and you may find moving big sums around you fall foul of a money laundering investigation.

R.

I assume the risk of this is the same for everyone on the site who has done this in the past, or plans to do so in the future

Reaper

Technically what you are doing is against the Egg terms and conditions too and you may find moving big sums around you fall foul of a money laundering investigation.

Actually it is allowed in the Egg T&C, it is card A which probably says BTs are to pay off debts.

As for money laundering I wouldn't worry about it. I created a £22k positive balance on an Egg card without a flicker of interest from them. Even if they were to investigate you are not doing money laundering (or are you?!) so it would just slow the transfer down a bit while they checked.

Luffer

Actually it is allowed in the Egg T&C, it is card A which probably says BTs are to pay off debts.

As for money laundering I wouldn't worry about it. I created a £22k positive balance on an Egg card without a flicker of interest from them. Even if they were to investigate you are not doing money laundering (or are you?!)

No - just trying to get my hands on some of their money for a change.

Next Question - As i currently have a zero balance on my Egg account - If I transfer £5k straight into my bank from Egg without creating a positive balance is it considered a cash advance, or do I still have the grace period so long as I restore the funds when the next payments due?

Reaper

As i currently have a zero balance on my Egg account - If I transfer £5k straight into my bank from Egg without creating a positive balance is it considered a cash advance

Not if you tick the "Balance Transfer" option on the web site instead of the "Cash Advance". Then it's free whether or not you have a positive balance (well, if you are outside your 0% period you will pay normal interest if it creates a debt)

Luffer

Im being impatient as Im waiting a replacement Egg card to reconfirm account numbers etc. (Although I should be able to take the number direct from My Account details on the Egg website.

Also, I assume once the replacement card comes through and I transfer the limit of my 0% interest free balance onto the egg card to SBT, this will take a week, with a further week from Egg to personal account and then time from personal to Egg savings!

I dont see a cash advance button (but I do need glasses), the option is Balance Transfer under the Move Money heading, and when I type in the details it indicates a transfer to Egg card from Overdraft.

My intention is to transfer the money from Egg to my account - then balance transfer from my card to Egg at 0%, which then technically repays a debt.

My worry is that I start being charged interest from the moment I transfer money from Egg into my account, not from the date the money should be repayed (which it will be)

bethyblue612

As you are outside your 0% period, if you do the Egg transfer first you will be charged interest (but you won't be in any danger of breaching anybody's T&C's).
At 13.9%, your £5k transfer will cost you about £1.90 per day in interest from Egg, but balanced up against your potential profit of around £110, it should be worth it.

(Or just be a devil and "accidentally" put your Egg card into credit first!)

realaledrinker

Ther is a bit of misinformation in this thread.

We are all 'experts' who are only going off personal experience & what we have gleaned off here (& https://www.fool.co.uk over the last couple of years, in my case).

egg positively WANT you to transfer your credit limit to your current account, as they want you to spend the dosh so you end up paying interest, either immediately or at the end of your interest free period.

Whwen you BT with egg, just don't try & BT more than your credit limit or else this gets refused on-line & you end up making an awkward phone call to them to achieve your ends.

For example, if your credit limit is £5K and you BT another card into there for £15K which puts you £10K in credit, don't try & BT the 10K to your bank account in one go, as this is more than your 'limit' of £5k. Do it in two chunks & it should go through OK.

pioneer31

Let me get this right

Are you guys saying that if you have an egg card with say £10k credit limit then you can do an £5k SBT from egg to your bank and then say a week later do a £5k BT from your previous card to egg?

Luffer

As you are outside your 0% period, if you do the Egg transfer first you will be charged interest (but you won't be in any danger of breaching anybody's T&C's).
At 13.9%, your £5k transfer will cost you about £1.90 per day in interest from Egg, but balanced up against your potential profit of around £110, it should be worth it.

(Or just be a devil and "accidentally" put your Egg card into credit first!)

Thanks bethyblue612 ,

Its not the answer I wanted to hear, but its the answer to my question.

So, outside the 0% period with Egg, a balance transfer is in effect a cash withdrawal attracting interest from the day the transfer is made at approx £1.90 per day (ouch).

Set aside the £110 profit its not much, but if it took say two weeks to transfer from my other card back to Egg, then its nearly £28 gone.

I think Ill wait till I can be a devil and put Egg into credit ;D

Miserley,

yes & no.

You can do it as you suggest if your previous card doesnt allow SBTs, but you want to put some 0% cash from the previous card into a credit bearing account.. You balance transfer the cash onto your egg card , then SBT from egg to account.

However, As Bethyblue is indicating, if you transfer (SBT ) from Egg before doing the BT from your previous card it appears to be consideed a cash advance, so you pay interest on the SBT at the current Egg rate until the funds are BT to Egg from your previous card.

So, if your savings account pays 5%, and Egg charges 13.9% on cash advances, you are paying approx 8.9% on the SBT until the funds are back with Egg.

I think!!