Tips to Boost your eBucks

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StrontiumDog said:
OK, so set a reminder to check if they have refunded by the time the next amount comes off. Certainly not worth stressing every day about R16.50.
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I know some guys on the pricing bundle option got refunded. I am not on the pricing bundle option for my CC and cheque account. But I asked my premier banker, and she said refunds will occur.
 
air said:
For how many people?
Wife also complains about Checkers range, the hyper is quite a trek for us, so we make do with the local one.
We do supplement with Woolies for fruit 'n veg and then PnP with smaller items during the week.
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@Air - we are 4, wife + me, and 2 kiddies - 4yr old and a 13mth... And we make most of my son's food and buy some of it from Dischem / Babycity...

i just find things are expensive.... checkers is cheaper than ww... trick is also to know what things cost - so when to stock up on things like Salticrax or other stuff... ive gotten quite good at that... which is prob why i got my bill down to where it is now. Hope to get it down further!
 
I have received my refund. The full R150 was returned and then 16.50 was taken off. I only joined in May this year so I think that's why I got the full refund.
 
fruitbat said:
trick is also to know what things cost - so when to stock up on things like Salticrax or other stuff... ive gotten quite good at that... which is prob why i got my bill down to where it is now. Hope to get it down further!
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too true :-) pricing and knowing what specials are running has become my domain LOL
damn excel sheet and inputting every penny you spend, painful, but well worth it - can become a tad obsessive, so need to apply a degree of reasonability...
 
Whew ... that was a marathon! I just scanned through the last 100+ pages of this thread to catch up from where I left off early this year.
I've been on a Gold Cheque account for a long time. I used to typically be on RL3 and I'd get a anything from eB500 to eB1500 per month.
Up til now I've never wanted an FNB Credit card cos I’ve never needed it.
But the 2015 rules make it impossible for me to make back my banking fees in eBucks unless I'm using a CC, so I bit the bullet and got a corresponding (Gold) CC this month, but I never wanna pay interest on it. Never Ever Ever.
And my aim is now RL5, cos if I’m gonna go through the cost (an additional R40/month = eB400) and effort (i.t.o behavioural changes) of using a CC, I wanna extract the full benefit of eBucks. Anything less than eB1400/month from now on means I’m “in the red”.

So I have some CC related questions, that I hope you guys can answer, cos FNB's people don't always know their own products (see my previous post regarding an eBucks consultant who didn't know that RL affected earn rate as well as spend rate!)
I’ve set an AutoPayment for the 28th of each month for 50% of the statement balance, and I intend to login on the 1st of each month and “zero” my calendar month by paying any outstanding CC balance in full.

So here are my questions:
1)
To get points for "Use between 10% and 90% of your credit limit during a calendar month (1,500 RL points) " , can I just go over 10% for a single day, then pay it off the next day … will that count?
Say my CC limit (Straight+Budget) is R10,000 … Can I swipe from the 1st of the month until my CC outstanding balance is R1,010 but then transfer that full amount from my Cheque account to the CC the next day and still get the 1,500 RL points? Will that tick the proverbial box for the above rule? If not, how do I ensure I can score the abovementioned points without paying any interest?
2)
I noticed that my swipes don't reflect immediately when you log in to the website. There was a discussion many pages ago in the thread explaining why this happens, so that's something I can't do anything about. But then how do I ensure that when I "zero" my outstanding CC balance on the 1st of the month, I'm actually paying for everything that I’ve swiped in the preceding month, so that I don’t pay any interest?
3)
How does the whole 55 days cycle work for interest calculations? Is it calculated on a particular date, and you pay interest on whatever the outstanding balance is? In other words, will I definitely pay no interest ever if I ensure I “zero” my outstanding CC balance on the 1st of each month? Or do I need to pick another date to zero the outstanding CC balance (e.g. the day before interest calculations happen)

Using the eBucks calculator, I easily should be able to manage 19500 RL points from now on (excluding this month cos I had to swipe my cheque card until the CC was delivered), so I can definitely make it to RL5, but the questions above relate to making it to RL5 and never paying a single cent (1c / R0.01) of interest

Thanks in advance
 
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Inevitability said:
Using the eBucks calculator, I easily should be able to manage 19500 RL points from now on (excluding this month cos I had to swipe my cheque card until the CC was delivered), so I can definitely make it to RL5, but the questions above relate to making it to RL5 and never paying a single cent (1c / R0.01) of intereste
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I have set my CC autopayment to "actual balance settlement" on the last day of the month and I have never paid any intereston my CC.
 
Inevitability said:
Whew ... that was a marathon! I just scanned through the last 100+ pages of this thread to catch up from where I left off early this year.
I've been on a Gold Cheque account for a long time. I used to typically be on RL3 and I'd get a anything from eB500 to eB1500 per month.
Up til now I've never wanted an FNB Credit card cos I’ve never needed it.
But the 2015 rules make it impossible for me to make back my banking fees in eBucks unless I'm using a CC, so I bit the bullet and got a corresponding (Gold) CC this month, but I never wanna pay interest on it. Never Ever Ever.
And my aim is now RL5, cos if I’m gonna go through the cost (an additional R40/month = eB400) and effort (i.t.o behavioural changes) of using a CC, I wanna extract the full benefit of eBucks. Anything less than eB1400/month from now on means I’m “in the red”.

So I have some CC related questions, that I hope you guys can answer, cos FNB's people don't always know their own products (see my previous post regarding an eBucks consultant who didn't know that RL affected earn rate as well as spend rate!)
I’ve set an AutoPayment for the 28th of each month for 50% of the statement balance, and I intend to login on the 1st of each month and “zero” my calendar month by paying any outstanding CC balance in full.

So here are my questions:
1)
To get points for "Use between 10% and 90% of your credit limit during a calendar month (1,500 RL points) " , can I just go over 10% for a single day, then pay it off the next day … will that count?
Say my CC limit (Straight+Budget) is R10,000 … Can I swipe from the 1st of the month until my CC outstanding balance is R1,010 but then transfer that full amount from my Cheque account to the CC the next day and still get the 1,500 RL points? Will that tick the proverbial box for the above rule? If not, how do I ensure I can score the abovementioned points without paying any interest?
2)
I noticed that my swipes don't reflect immediately when you log in to the website. There was a discussion many pages ago in the thread explaining why this happens, so that's something I can't do anything about. But then how do I ensure that when I "zero" my outstanding CC balance on the 1st of the month, I'm actually paying for everything that I’ve swiped in the preceding month, so that I don’t pay any interest?
3)
How does the whole 55 days cycle work for interest calculations? Is it calculated on a particular date, and you pay interest on whatever the outstanding balance is? In other words, will I definitely pay no interest ever if I ensure I “zero” my outstanding CC balance on the 1st of each month? Or do I need to pick another date to zero the outstanding CC balance (e.g. the day before interest calculations happen)

Using the eBucks calculator, I easily should be able to manage 19500 RL points from now on (excluding this month cos I had to swipe my cheque card until the CC was delivered), so I can definitely make it to RL5, but the questions above relate to making it to RL5 and never paying a single cent (1c / R0.01) of interest

Thanks in advance
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Let me try and answer you with the knowledge I have:

1) Point 1 is part of the old rules. The new rules are:

Total monthly spend on your FNB Platinum Credit Card:
•Between 25% and 49.9% of your total monthly spend is on your Platinum Credit Card
500
•Between 50% and 74.9% of your total monthly spend is on your Platinum Credit Card
1 000
•Between 75% and 99.9% of your total monthly spend is on your Platinum Credit Card
2 000
•100% of your total monthly spend is on your Platinum Credit Card
4 000

So, the more you spend on you CC monthly, the more points you get. Your goal should be to get 4000 points with the above rule

2) The golden rule here are ... log into FNB internet banking, see when is your due date for your month's spending, and what ever date that is, make sure you R0 that balance. If you buy things today, and you clear your balance tomorrow, and the things you bought are only processed (showing on FNB internet banking), then that is for the next month's expenses (Hope that makes sense)

3) The short and long story in my eye's ... If you are not making the debt each month R0 when the due date comes, you will pay interest. So now you ask ... lets say that is 30/31 days ...vs the 55 days ? I had long emails to FNB to explain that to me. I gave up eventually.

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/549635-FNB-Credit-Card
 
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Regarding the due date ... my date are never on the same day ... from the 1st to the 3rd (so just watch out for that please)
 
gjm said:
I have set my CC autopayment to "actual balance settlement" on the last day of the month and I have never paid any interest on my CC
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Great, thanks for the info!

zerocool2009 said:
Let me try and answer you with the knowledge I have:
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Thanks for the effort!
zerocool2009 said:
1) Point 1 is part of the old rules. The new rules are:
Total monthly spend on your FNB Platinum Credit Card:
Click to expand...
I'm on Gold ... I think those rules you quoted are for Platinum. Gold rules (click here and expand the area titled "How to move up a reward level") are 1500 RL points for using 10-90% of CC limit, then a further 4000 points for 100% CC swiping. So 6500 in total just for that! :D

zerocool2009 said:
2) The golden rule here are ... log into FNB internet banking, see when is your due date for your month's spending, and what ever date that is, make sure you R0 that balance.
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Will do, thanks for the tip!

zerocool2009 said:
If you buy things today, and you clear your balance tomorrow, and the things you bought are only processed (showing on FNB internet banking), then that is for the next month's expenses (Hope that makes sense)
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So tell me if I am right/wrong here: FNB only counts whatever is showing on my online banking. If I have swiped for something, and it doesn't show up on my account online, FNB ignores it from the eBucks and interest calcs until it shows up.

zerocool2009 said:
3) The short and long story in my eye's ... If you are not making the debt each month R0 when the due date comes, you will pay interest. So now you ask ... lets say that is 30/31 days ...vs the 55 days ? I had long emails to FNB to explain that to me. I gave up eventually.
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This is the thing that boggles my mind. I almost want to ask if each transaction has a separate "clock" that starts counting the moment I swipe and flags them once i havent paid for it after 55 days, but I know that's impractical, so I dunno how it works. But then what happens if I am constantly swiping to got to 85% of my limit but I pay off the amount down to 15% and then swipe and repeat ... will I then incur interest? If i do, how does that make any sense cos I am, technically, always paying off the earlier transactions before 55 days.
 
The issue is .... CC's are bloody expensive if you don't zero the amount when the due date comes.

To keep track of every transaction will give you grey hairs.

What I have learnt in the past decade with FNB ... when the due date comes, make it ZERO on that date.

It all boils down to : If you know how a credit card work's it is magic.
 
zerocool2009 said:
The issue is .... CC's are bloody expensive if you don't zero the amount when the due date comes.
To keep track of every transaction will give you grey hairs.
What I have learnt in the past decade with FNB ... when the due date comes, make it ZERO on that date.
It all boils down to : If you know how a credit card work's it is magic.
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Thanks again. I will definitely stick to that advice.

Just to clarify:
Lets say my due date is today (24/07), does that mean I must "zero" it before the end of today (24/07 23:59), or the end of yesterday (23/07 23:59)?
Also (and I am asking this as a genuine question, not to be a dick), what about transactions that might only appear during the day on my due date? Or worse, in the final hours of my due date? I might then go into a new "due date month" (as opposed to calendar month) with a non-zero balance... have you ever had that happen to you?
Sorry, I know you're answering from personal experience and you're not an FNB product expert, but I have confidence that I am getting more value out of this discussion than calling them cos of my past experience with their agents.
 
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Look at your statement. It will give you a balance. Pay that balance before the due date.

Transactions after your statement date will not attract interest until after the next due date.
 
Sinbad said:
Look at your statement. It will give you a balance. Pay that balance before the due date.
Transactions after your statement date will not attract interest until after the next due date.
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Got it.
How do I make my due date to be the last calendar day of the month? (cos that would make it much easier to clearly see that I am keeping between 10% to 90% so I never break the eBucks rule)
Or do you guys have an easier way to ensure you stay between 10% and 90%?

EDIT : Cos the eBucks rules page seems to imply that the 10% to 90% rule is applicable over a calendar month

CORRECTION: It states very clearly that its a calendar month...
eBucksRulePage said:
Use between 10% and 90% of your credit limit during a calendar month
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I'm wondering if anyone can clarify this for me:
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2000 pts
Use your Platinum Cheque or Credit Card to shop online or swipe internationally. Minimum spend is R1000

Does this need to be 1 transaction of >=R1000 or can it be spread across multiple transactions?
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jsheed_sa said:
I'm wondering if anyone can clarify this for me:
---
2000 pts
Use your Platinum Cheque or Credit Card to shop online or swipe internationally. Minimum spend is R1000

Does this need to be 1 transaction of >=R1000 or can it be spread across multiple transactions?
---
Click to expand...
Multiple.
 
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