It’s easier to meet minimum spending requirements to earn credit card sign-up bonuses when you can include your biggest expenses. Unfortunately, some of these (such as rent, home repair, etc.) don’t typically take credit cards as payment.
Plastiq is a service that accepts your credit card as payment (for a fee) and then pays those bills.
Until November 30, 2015, Plastiq is dropping the fee to 1.5% when you make a 1-time, immediate bill payment with any MasterCard.
This could be helpful to folks who want to earn the sign-up bonus on the Citi Prestige, Citi ThankYou Premier, Citi American Airlines cards, Barclaycard Arrival Plus, and more!
Using Plastiq to Pay Bills That Don’t Normally Accept Credit Cards, Like Some Utilities, Could Be Worth It With Their New Promotion!
I’ll explain how it works and if you should consider it!
What’s the Deal?
Link: Plastiq MasterCard 1.5% Fee Promotion
Link: Sign-Up for Plastiq
Link: My Review of Plastiq
Plastiq is a bill payment service that allows you to use a credit card to pay bills and invoices that don’t normally take credit cards, like:
- Rent and utility bills
- Tuition and housing fees
- Home repair and construction
- Income and property taxes
- Babysitters, nannies, child care expenses
- Coaches, trainers, fitness clubs
- Attorneys and legal fees
Use Plastiq to Pay Your Cleaning Lady, Child Care Provider, or Personal Trainer With a Credit Card – and Pay a Lower Fee Until November 30, 2015
Until November 30, 2015, at 5:00 pm Pacific Time, you’ll be charged a lower 1.5% fee when you use your MasterCard to make a 1-time, immediate bill payment with Plastiq. Normally, Plastiq charges 2.5% for credit card payments.
So recurring payments, or payments scheduled for the future do NOT receive the better rate. But this could be a good deal if you have a large invoice coming up, or want to pre-pay a bill and pay lower fees.
Only MasterCard payments receive the lower rate. This could be worth it if you’re trying to meet minimum spending requirements on MasterCards like:
- Barclaycard Arrival Plus
- Citi AAdvantage Executive
- Citi AAdvantage Platinum
- Citi ThankYou Premier
- Citi Prestige
It could be worth it to pay the 1.5% fee to help reach the spending for a big sign-up bonus, like the 50,000 Citi ThankYou points you’ll earn with the Citi Prestige card after you spend $3,000 in the 1st 3 months of opening your account.
The Citi Prestige Sign-Up Bonus Can Get You $1,000+ in Big Travel. It Might Be Worth Paying a Small Fee to Reach the Minimum Spending Requirement Quickly!
Don’t Fall Behind on Your Bills, Come Out Ahead!
In some cases, you could even make a small profit with this deal!
For example, if you spent $1,000 using your Barclaycard Arrival Plus, Plastiq would add a $15 fee ($1,000 x 1.5%).
But you’d earn 2,000 Barclaycard Arrival miles. They’re worth $20 when you redeem them for travel purchases of $100 or more.
And you’ll get a 5% rebate (worth 100 Barclaycard Arrival miles) when you redeem your miles for travel. Not a bad deal for bills you would have paid anyway!
Pay Sports and Coaching Fees With Plastiq and MasterCard, and You Could Even Make a Small Profit
Or consider using a cash back card like the Citi Double Cash. You’ll earn 1% cash back when you make your purchase, and another 1% when you pay it off. So you’ll still come out ahead!
Note: Some folks report delays in Plastiq payments reaching their payee. So I would NOT use them to make time-sensitive payments!
Bottom Line
Until November 30, 2015, you’ll pay a lower fee of 1.5% when you use your MasterCard to make a 1-time, immediate bill payment using Plastiq.
With Plastiq, you can pay bills and invoices that don’t normally accept credit cards, like rent, utilities, loans, handymen, and more.
Normally, Plastiq charges 2.5% for credit card payments. So this could be a good way to help meet minimum spending requirements on cards like the Barclaycard Arrival Plus or Citi Prestige for a small fee.
And in some cases, you might actually make a little money!
That said, I wouldn’t use Plastiq for important or time-sensitive payments, because some folks report issues with payments being processed on time.
Have you used Plastiq? What do you think of their service?
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