GREAT service with an APR suitable for low budgets (Egg Card)

Member Name: judithritchie

Product:	Egg Card
Date:	20/08/01 (129 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: highly secure service on and offline, very low extremely competitive APR, highly trained staff who know what theyredoing on the phone service, cashback and debit payments

Disadvantages: LOMG waiting times on the phone if you need to call them, the activation process wasa bit dodgy for me

I have had a grand total of 2 credit cards in my 3 years of credit status, and of these cards (and the other cards I have considered) Egg has been the best card going. They have a lot to offer! This is one card you should definitely consider!


The Egg card is an online credit card. That is, you apply for it online, and if you are approved and sent a card you manage your account online. Statements, payments, transfers - everything! This is not to say if you get your details wrong you are left to sort it out yourself. The online service is backed up by a telephone service if you have any problems. However you are supposed to manage your account online, as it is designed to make it easier for you to sort stuff out.

The Egg card has a huge range of advantages that make me love this card.

1. The login details do not comprise of a user login and password, one of which you can guarantee you will forget at one time or another. Instead from the main site you must enter details about yourself, such as your name, your mother’s maiden name, date of birth etc. before the obligatory password.


2. When logged in it takes you to a page where you can access details of all Egg accounts, including savings, mortgage etc. Here the balance is available for your Egg card, and you can click on it to access your credit card account.


3. The account details page displays the balance, your credit limit and your available balance and at the bottom of the page are listed all recent transactions with the date and amount, as would any credit card statement.


4. On the left of the page is a comprehensive bar with links to different account options, such as viewing previous statements, changing your minimum monthly payment amount, in addition to which there are links to other egg services.


5. When you open your credit card account you must provide bank details from which a fixed amount is debited to pay y
our card per month. Of course if the balance is less than this amount then they’ll just debit you for the balance, or if your account is clear then you won’t get billed at all. This is something I love about my egg card - it means I never forget to make a payment. I have a lot of financial payments to make, and any that involve me remembering to do it will inevitably get forgotten, as I am so unorganised. This fixed amount can easily be changed once you have logged onto your account.


6. Egg operate a cashback system. If pays 1% for all purchases made on the card, but it was 2% cashback for companies affiliated through the egg shops. This is a range of stores accessible through the egg home page. It doesn’t sound like much money back, but I have already earned myself over £5 and I am a light user of this card at the moment! Someone with a family who uses it a lot may get a lot more cashback. every bit helps! Cashback is paid on the account every September apparently, so I’ll be looking forward to that!


7. Security is strict, so those who are concerned that an online credit card may not be safe don’t have to worry here. Egg take a great deal of trouble to keep your account secure. The site is certified secure, and if you get your details wrong then your account login is frozen. Then you must ring Egg to unblock it, answering detailed questions about yourself and recent purchases to ensure it is you who is accessing your account. I only did this once, and I think I was given about 3 attempts (I’m not going to go through that again to tell you whether it was once or 3 times I tried and got the details wrong!). When they’ve established it’s you you need a new password, and something I love about Egg is that they let you choose your own password rather than giving you one which you can later change. In addition, your card is insured against fraudulent use online that you did not permit, as it is
if the card is stolen and used offline so you are guaranteed good security.


8. Egg email you each month to inform you that you can now view your Egg statement for the last month (although you may have monitored them in recent transactions over the last month anyway) but it’s a useful reminder to check your card and ensure everything is fine. I also receive information about other egg services in the post, and details about interest rate and APR changes.


9. Egg have the best APR rate I have seen on the street - indeed, when I got the card it was during the 6 months 0% APR offer! The APR is around 10.6%. I applied for an egg card when I realised to my horror that my “student” credit card was charging APR rates at non-student APR rates of over 17%. There are some cards you can get with even lower APRs, Northern Rock and Cahoot being 2 I can think of. However there are some advantages over these cards. Northern Rock cannot be applied for or used online, and you have to use the Cahoot card at least once a month (I was good enough to read the terms and conditions) and it seemd to want me to pay an amount per month in order to get the lowest APR, something I didn’t want.


10. There is no annual fee.


11. The card makes a stylish statement when used in the street, as it is a lovely metallic green colour and its simple design makes it extremely attractive.


I have had a few difficulties with egg, but nothing major. I shall disclose these nonetheless.


1. Once you have applied for the card, received the paperwork in the post, signed the agreement and returned it, you are sent a code in the post which you must enter on the site in order to activate the card. I tried several times to enter it but it kept coming back saying there was an error. I didn’t use the card for months in case it was rejected for not being activated, until one day when I was working in a shop
at Christmas I asked my colleague to swipe the card and see if it worked, and it did. I would hope that since last year when I applied for it that the activation process has improved.


2. Although the service you receive from the egg telephone is nothing short of excellent, with fully trained staff competent and friendly to deal with your problems, the waiting time on the phone is very long! I was on hold for 20 minutes when I got my password wrong, and 15 when I needed to query a payment.


On top of this, the card has been nothing short of excellent. I only just checked my details, worried I might have gone over my limit to find the limit had been increased so I don’t have to worry about being on the brink of my limit at the moment, a financially difficult time as I have just bought a house. My interest rates are lower, and I am a very happy customer! I would recommend you check out egg’s services. I’d say they have everything you would be looking for in a credit card.

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