MSE News: Savvy MoneySaver plays bank system to make £1,000s

philip84

Just to add that this maybe okay for someone in retirement who does not (perhaps) need a good credit rating but every time you apply for a bank account or credit card you are seen as credit hungry and it can affect your credit score for when you need to apply for a mortgage etc.

innovate

exel1966 wrote: »

So would it not be better to do it externally ie.The TV show?

Where, I wonder does this news feature go externally ?

Explaining it properly would take a bit more than one TV Show. But it would be a dreadful idea to publicise/explain all the details because it would just be another golden goose that MSE have killed.

innovate

philip84 wrote: »

Just to add that this maybe okay for someone in retirement who does not (perhaps) need a good credit rating but every time you apply for a bank account or credit card you are seen as credit hungry and it can affect your credit score for when you need to apply for a mortgage etc.

Obviously, a huge number of applications in a short space are bad news. But if you space things out, it could work to your advantage if you are seen as being able to manage credit facilities. Being able to manage them means you don't have any late payment markers, and no debt.

Most of the opportunities are in areas where you actually don't want/need any overdraft, thus the credit available to you isn't huge, unless you aren't managing your applications properly.

Having said this, I know people who have offset mortages of tens of thousands, a number of [unused] overdraft facilities, in excess of £30K credit card limits (across a couple of cards), and 2 dozen current accounts. They aren't typically applying for any loans - but then, the malarky alluded to in the article isn't really for people who need loans.

exel1966

innovate wrote: »

Explaining it properly would take a bit more than one TV Show. But it would be a dreadful idea to publicise/explain all the details because it would just be another golden goose that MSE have killed.

Yes I realise that, but my point is that they're trying to preach to the already converted whereas if they're trying to hit a wider audience then it will go externally as well, but does it?

What you, I, anyone here thinks about MSE killing it for a few (already here) is irrelevant as MSE's philosophy is to hit a big as audience as possible, save as many people as much money as possible, therefore spreading the MSE word making it even bigger and more valuable and more profitable with the help of MSM.

Gromitt

HappyBunny wrote: »

Whilst i appreciate some have nothing better to do with their time than spend time opening accounts, switching, keeping track of move account dates and tracking interest rates, to be honest i couldn't be arsed!

So what do you do instead? If you have a very busy active lifestyle then fine, but considering you find the time to spend on this forum then you have plenty of time to maximise your income, so it basically comes down to the last part of your post: "I can't be arsed" which is exactly what banks want. You must be one of their best customers!

I've just spent 5 minutes moving money from an expired Halifax Online Saver to a better account, as I consider £80/month (which I wouldn't get if I left it where it is) to be well worth the time spent.

innovate

exel1966 wrote: »

....spreading the MSE word making it even bigger and more valuable and more profitable with the help of MSM.

There are certain words MSE can spread that will always be beneficial to everybody and these won't kill any offers. (e.g. "don't spend more than you earn", in simplistic terms)

There are tons of other things that get killed off almost instantly when the "MSE massive" descend on them. There are plenty of such examples all across the board. Concerted efforts to educate the masses on financial offers is counter-productive because the offers will be so short-lived, it's not worth MSE's while to write about them. Eventually banks/BSs just won't be offering anything attractive, and/or they will close any loopholes that may still exist now.

exel1966

But promoting these ideas and putting them 'out there' also helps to maintain healthier competition amongst the banks.

Offers will come and go from the banks, some will be loss leaders, some will be limited to say 50,000 New customers. MSE [STRIKE]promoting[/STRIKE] highlighting them means the offers will be shorter lived because the allocations will get filled up sooner rather than later, but they'll probably get filled out in any case whether MSE was here or not. MSE are also doing the banks a service....FREE advertising.....and they know it ! A recommendation from MSE is seen as good by Joe Public, therefore the banks know they will fill their quotas once it's mentioned here.

I would love it to stay 'hush hush' so it's limited to the savvy, but that's just not going to happen, so therefore I just look at it more realistically.

exel1966

philip84 wrote: »

Just to add that this maybe okay for someone in retirement who does not (perhaps) need a good credit rating but every time you apply for a bank account or credit card you are seen as credit hungry and it can affect your credit score for when you need to apply for a mortgage etc.

It will have a very minimal impact if you act wisely. It certainly doesn't mean you're 'seen as credit hungry' making one off applications every few months.

Sensory

Applying for a current account and requesting a £0 overdraft is seen as credit hungry?

innovate

exel1966 wrote: »

I would love it to stay 'hush hush' so it's limited to the savvy, but that's just not going to happen, so therefore I just look at it more realistically.

Well, it's been 'hush hush' for many years, I don't actually expect it to change anytime soon. There's no way everything that's needed to exploit the possibles properly will end up in an official MSE "how to" guide. And I can't see the subject matter experts to contribute to an unofficial one. Those who want to be part of the 'movement' can easily find the information they need, because one of the key pre-reqs for being successful with this is having initiative.