take free range of your finances with egg (Egg Card)

Member Name: nicolemorgan

Product:	Egg Card
Date:	11/02/03 (312 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: competitive apr, 0% into offer for balance transfers, online access

Disadvantages: poor customer service

Egg are currently offering new customers 0% until 1 August 2003 on balance transfers and new purchases (12.3% Apr variable). Apply online and get a decision in minutes.

I currently work part-time (whilst juggling studies for a degree) for a financial institution tht shall be unnamed. It is though, the beiggest financial institue in the world ad offers a wide varety of credit cards. Working in the credit card industry has therefore led to me being very picky to say the least when it comes to choosing my own credit card.

I did have a few problems with applying. You need internet access to apply and also to access your account details. There is a telephone customer sevices line but I would not recommend using it. In my experienc the staff were rude and unhelpful. My first aplication was lost and due to a number of other problems it took about 6 weeks before my card came through. I made a complaint though and received a quite substantial amount of compesation which more than made up for the inconvenience.

The card itself , despite the quite hideous colour, offers exactly what I require. I used my 0% balance transfer offer to pay off my overdraft and then I maxed my overdraft again by putting down a deposit on a house!

I have had the account for a little over 6 months and I'm just beginning to pay interest but at 13.9% this is a highly competitive rate. From my experience the lowest standard apr you will generally find is 11.9%. It is important not to confuse the standard annual interest rate with promotional offers that only last for a short period or only appl to balance transfers. To get a standard apr of less than 11.9% you would pobably require an impeccable credit rating which, let's face it, few of us have.

The card offers online access to your account anytime. There's no queuing and no waiting for the bank to open. You can make pyments, do balance transfers and monitor your finances for other accounts
too using their mneymanager 24/7 at the click of a button.

I notice some other opinions have complaned about the 0.5% cash back not being enough. In my opionion this is simply an added bonus which provides you with a little 'treat' when the money is credited back to your account once a year. A card should be chosen because of service and factors such as apr rather than the amount of cash back.

As with any visa acc there are charges for going over the limit or making a late payment. £20 in the case of Egg. However these are standard with all cards (check your terms and conditions) ad the company I work for charge £25 a time. Simply run your account sensibly and you won't receive these charges. Also - a little secret - you credit card company will definitely refund one charge a year, most probably two and maybe even three. Just ask!


Egg has served me well - despite the few hitches when I first applied. Check out their site www.egg.com for more info but make sure you shop around first as getting a visa card can be quite a big commitment.

Summary: