The MBNA Platinum Plus credit card offers a variety of enticing offers; a lengthy 0% balance transfer period, a less lengthy but still useful 0% purchase deal, a moderate APR, and zero annual fees.
It also offers 0% on transferring cash into your current account until February 2009, an offer we've yet to see on any other credit card, which makes this a particularly interesting aspect of the MBNA Platinum Plus credit card [read the MBNA Platinum Plus credit card review here].
This '0% on transfers to a current account' facility rather overtly offers you the chance to score some free money through a nice 'Stoozing' opportunity.
But how cautious of this offer should you be?
MBNA, a rather gigantic banking corporation, have never been shy in implementing ‘allocation of payment’ clauses alongside their worryingly shorter 0% purchase period (to the 0% balance transfer deal).
"We will use your payments to reduce balances at lower rates of interest before balances at higher rates of interest. Where you have two promotional rates which are the same, we will use your payments to reduce the balance with the longer promotional period first."
And we have to consider, at least, that there must be some hidden profit-making reason to suddenly being the first credit card issuer to openly advertise a way for consumers to make money from them.
So it almost goes without saying - there are t & c traps to the '0% transfer to current account' deal - of which, you should be aware of:
- Not using the card to withdraw cash, or any other cash transaction, (e.g. check-out 'cash back', foreign currency, travelers cheques, shopping vouchers, gambling).
- Not using the card for purchases - 0% or otherwise - at the same time as using the card for a '0% transfer to current account' OR 0% balance transfer.
- Keep up with all minimum monthly repayments and do not exceed your credit limit.
- The 3% transfer fee also applies to transfers to a current account as well as transfers to existing credit cards - so you will need to get a savings account that offers more than 3% AER interest to turn a profit - the higher the better (a 3% AER would break even, and that's based on leaving the money in savings for 1 year).
Stick to those 4 basic rules - and check out the below to start making a relatively easy cash profit from the MBNA Platinum Plus credit card.
Now for Stoozing and some FREE MONEY!
Okay pay attention class, because this is just a little bit complicated. But really worthwhile.
Have you ever heard of Stoozing? It's the act of using various credit card offers against each other to make a few quid, essentially for doing nothing.
Arbitration is what the City Gents and Ladies would call it, I imagine. And the MBNA Platinum Plus credit card offer is perfect for it, for the particular reason that it openly offers 0% on transferring cash into your current account, as well as 0% balance transfers and 0% on purchases.
Stooze 1 – Pure Cash
Here's how the Stooze works, in its simplest form: you 'borrow' money from a 0% balance transfer credit card and store it in a high-yield savings account. When the 0% balance offer is up, you simply take the cash out of the savings account, pay off the credit card, and pocket the interest.
In practice it's a tiny bit more complicated than that. And you have to be disciplined and watch that you make your minimum monthly payments, and that you put the cash into a savings account that can be accessed when you need it (i.e. at the end of the 0% interest period).
Be careful when doing this. If you make a mistake, it can cost you big in interest and penalties, so be sure that you understand what you're doing before you start.
Don't, for instance, start withdrawing money from the ATM with your credit card and start depositing this in your savings account. Cash transactions like this are NOT covered by 0% purchase or 0% balance transfers, and you will be charged fees and interest.
How to do it (simply):
Up until recently you needed an Egg Money card and a second 0% balance transfer credit card to do this type of Stooze.
You needed to be able to transfer the credit limit of the 0% balance transfer credit card to another credit card that would then allow you to move the money to a high interest savings account - which was the Egg Money card - and only the Egg Money card.
However, now you can effectively cut out the "middle-man" as well as much of the fuss and hassle.
The MBNA Platinum Plus credit card enables you to simply move your allotted credit limit straight to a high interest savings account (they say current account - but you could do that first and then move it over to savings just to be safe) - any credit moved from the MBNA Platinum Plus credit card will be charged at 0% for the next year.
With Egg Money/[your chosen] balance transfer card or MBNA Platinum Plus, you then simply keep up with the minimum monthly repayments and collect the interest earned on your savings account. When the 0% period is about to expire - simply use the savings cash to repay it and reap the profits for yourself.
Up the money (if you're feeling brave)...
Simply moving a credit card limit to a savings account is never going to make you rich quick - so if you're feeling a little brave you could also consider the next Stooze example.
How to do it:
Get the MBNA Platinum Plus credit card (for transferring cash into a current account at 0%), and another, different 0% balance transfer credit card.
Your second 0% balance transfer credit card will, of course, have a certain credit limit.
Now arrange to transfer, say, £1000 from your second 0% balance transfer credit card onto your MBNA Platinum Plus.
Your MBNA Platinum Plus will now have a positive balance of £1000, while your second credit card will be £1000 in arrears.
At this stage you move the £1000 from your MBNA card to the best savings account you can find (via your current account, if necessary, using the online transfer feature of MBNA Platinum Plus), and start accruing interest.
Of course, you can also move the credit limit on the MBNA Platinum Plus too - so that card becomes in arrears as well - but also at 0%.
This simply increases the amount of money you can put into savings, and subsequently ups your profit.
When the 0% balance transfer offers are over and you are due to start paying interest on the money borrowed from credit cards, you simply take the cash out of the savings account and pay it off. Whatever interest has accrued is yours!
You might be looking at this and wondering "but why would I be allowed to transfer cash from one credit card to another, if the second credit card didn't have any debt?"
Usually there's no problem with this - most 0% balance transfer credit cards do not stipulate that the account you are transferring into must be in arrears. For the 0% balance transfer period, it amounts to a loan that you are not paying any interest on.
Bear in mind that you may be charged a flat fee (often around 2% - 3%) for moving cash from one credit card to another. But you will still be able to make a handsome profit from this particular Stooze.
Needless to say, if you're feeling brave you can try this with as many other 0% balance transfer credit cards as you like, funneling 0% interest borrowed cash from them onto your MBNA Platinum Plus, and from there into your savings account.
Bear in mind your credit history and credit score though - you'll need a good one to do this anyway, and be careful of not taking out too many cards - always stop applying if you get rejected and stick to the cards you've managed to get already.
There's nothing illegal about Stoozing. It's just a nice way to make a few quid off the credit card companies for a change.
Get a good savings account:
To make a profit from 'balance transfer' Stoozing - the high interest savings account must offer a rate of interest higher than the balance transfer fees of the 0% balance transfer credit cards you are using.
For example, if you are going to be charged 3% for moving the balance you need to get a savings account that offers more than 3% interest over the duration of the 0% period.
Here's the math (approximately!):
For transferring and saving £1,000 for 12 months:
| INCOME: |
EXPENSE: |
| 6% AER on savings = £60 |
3% transfer fee = £30 |
|
|
| PROFIT: |
|
| £60 - £30 = £30 |
|
Percentage costs are easily calculated by: percentage / 100 x [amount on which fee / interest is based]
Example: 6 / 100 x 1000 = £60
Of course, the lower the transfer fee and the higher the interest on savings you can get - the more profit you'll be able to make (not forgetting at least 1 year 0% period). Compare 0% balance transfer credit cards here.
Stooze 2 – Using the card for Purchases
All that might have seemed a bit complicated, and if you don't like the sound of it, here's another way to leverage the 0% interest features of cards like MBNA Platinum Plus to make money.
The premise of this one is extremely simple - just use your 0% purchase credit card to pay for everything you possibly can, while spending as little actual cash as possible.
Put all that cash you are not spending into a high-yield savings account, and make sure to pay off your credit card's minimum monthly amount.
You see what's happening here? You are not being charged interest on your spending, but you are making interest on the cash you are saving. So you are in effect making a profit!
As per usual with 0% purchase credit cards, make sure not to use them for cash transactions like ATM withdrawals, check-out 'cash back', foreign currency, shopping vouchers, gambling etc.
And it goes without saying that you should keep up with minimum monthly repayments and don’t spend your savings! You’ll need it to clear your account when the 0% purchase offer comes to a close.
If you use your 0% purchases card wisely you can look forward to making a nice bit of extra cash from it.
Also bear in mind here, the MBNA Platinum Plus credit card only offers 0% on purchases for around 3 months – you can get up to 12 month 0% purchase deals [see HSBC credit card] - or compare 0% purchase credit cards to see the current longest deal.
Read the MBNA Platinum Plus credit card review
Compare 0% balance transfer credit cards
Compare 0% purchase credit cards
 Credit card guide
Credit card features archive
| 
