[RMJ]

Hi

Was just wondering how the credit card market in NZ is compared to the UK.

How are the interest rates etc....

More importantly are there opportunity's for some Stoozing :cool

[kiwidebs]

'Stoozing'??? Sorry, not a term I'm familiar with.

Debs

[RMJ]

Stoozing is making money from credit cards...

[Beach Kiwi]

Was just wondering how the credit card market in NZ is compared to the UK.

How are the interest rates etc....

It's very competitive, but interest rates are still high.

Click here for details (http://www.interest.co.nz/creditcards.html)

Don't know about stoozing! :?

[Jo and Andy]

Interesting idea, need to work out best credit card to have anyway
in order to get some financial history going. Plus one cheque to the bank to pay the bill, less individual transaction charges from the bank.

[Moorf]

Could someone explain what stoozing is and how it works??? :?

[RMJ]

Stoozing:

Taking adavantage of 0% interest deals on credit cards.

Basiclly you take the money that the credit card company gives you and put it in a high interest savings account.....

Just pay back the minimum repayments and at the end of the 0% period transfer to another card.

Wife and I have been doing this for about a year now, excellent way of getting money out of the banks for nothing

[Moorf]

Hmmmmmm

:nice1

[Wahine]

Stoozing:

Taking adavantage of 0% interest deals on credit cards.

Basiclly you take the money that the credit card company gives you and put it in a high interest savings account.....

Just pay back the minimum repayments and at the end of the 0% period transfer to another card.

I have done this once and earned myself a nice little sum. Because of my return to NZ in February, I haven't bothered again but was wondering... would it play havoc with your credit rating or trying to obtain credit in future? And can you go back to the same companies?

[Moorf]

As long as you pay back the correct amounts regularly this won't affect your credit ratings etc.

I wouldn't accumulate too many cards though... surely a recipe for disater?

[Moorf]

Found this on Make Money from Stoozing http://www.quote-engine.com/stoozing.html

Stoozing, this is a sophisticated method of making money from credit cards that offer 0% introductory periods, the method requires cast iron discipline in never spending on the cards.

But, I hear you all ask - what is stoozing and can I do it?

Stoozing, in the simplest terms is borrowing money from credit cards that offer a 0% introductory deals and saving that money in a savings account for the duration of the offer on the credit card. Then, the stoozer will apply for another 0% introductory credit card deal from another provider and transfer the whole balance from the first card onto it. This way the cash balance never has to leave the savings account and can be held like this for a long period of time earning 5% + interest!

Stoozing and Offset mortgages

Offset mortgages allow your savings and current accounts to be used to lower the amount of interest you pay on your outstanding mortgage balance e.g. if you have a mortgage outstanding for £80,000 and a savings account containing £10,000 the bank will only calculate and add interest on the outstanding £70,000; effectively saving you interest by the savings amount, at the same APR as your mortgage. This APR is often equal or greater than their typical savings account. This is similar to overpaying on your mortgage or other loans except the money is not locked in, and still accessible to remove again later.

As the money residing in your other accounts is no longer earning interest, but reducing outstanding debt, it also means the savings money is also not subject to tax unlike a normal savings account. By offsetting in this way with savings, it is possible to greatly reduce the number of years that the mortgage will run for. Instead of paying off the mortgage for a typical 25 year period, with regular capital payments at the existing level, you can shave several years of the completion date. Once you have an offset mortgage, the more savings you have, the lower your mortgage interest will cost. This is where Stoozing comes in. Instead of using your own money locked away to reduce your mortgage, use the 0% balance transfers from the credit cards to put money into your linked savings account using the same Stoozing methods.

Stoozing cannot last much longer...

The situation can't last though. Already Barclaycard and MBNA have introduced one-off charges on transferred debt, based on a percentage of the amount, and other card providers are expected to follow this strategy. Also, as the PricewaterhouseCoopers' report notes, card issuers are likely to become increasingly selective about which customers they offer balance transfers to and there will be a much stronger focus on customer retention. They may also increase other fees, such as those imposed for exceeding credit limits.

[debnjohn]

We've been playing the 0% card deal for a while now. I changed my mortgage to an offset one last February to take advantage, and have saved thousands of pounds in interest. It will certainly help us in the move to NZ (if we're sucessful) as it will give us breathing space on the sale of our house - Deb can stay in the UK for a few months whilst I find a job. [Some of the better deals give 9 or even 12 months at 0%].
I told a friend in Perth about it, and he's tried looking into it but can't get anything below about 6% interest rate.
John.

[upandrunning]

Stoozing and credit card tarts beware. NZ do not have 0% more like 16-20% withn annual charges also. We are past masters of tarting as I prefer to call it and the lowest rate here is about 12% for which they like you to pay a quarterley fee! Fat chance!

[Wannaway]

Agree with upandrunning. We only used credit cards in UK to purchase goods we already had the funds for and used 0% interest periods to great effect over quite a period of time. It doesn't appear to be like that over here - not that we want to anymore. Looking for quiet, relaxing life!
Nicky

[Wannaway]

Personally I prefer the term "rate tarts" to stoozing, but then I never could resist a tart.....