Editor’s Note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information.
If maximizing points and miles on big purchases is your game, plastic can help you get there. A popular payment platform for people looking to earn rewards for expenses that would not normally be charged to a credit card. We are talking about pay rent and mortgage, tax, tuitiona new car and pretty much everything in between.
But before you get too excited about how many miles you’ll earn to pay for your child’s college tuition, remember that Plastiq has a fee. There are also restrictions on the types of payments you can make with specific credit cards. Below, we’ll cover some alternative solutions to these problems along with everything else you need to know about Plastiq.
What is Plastiq?
Plastiq is a payment platform that allows you to pay and accept pretty much any bill with a debit or credit card. It’s a great option to earn points on spending that you wouldn’t normally be able to credit to a credit card. This includes some of your biggest living expenses, like housing, a car, and tuition.
You can pay these merchants with a credit card and Plastiq will send them a check or bank transfer on your behalf. It also has accept plastiq for small businesses and a global payment solution also.
You can even set up automatic payments, so you don’t have to worry about manual scheduling every month.
Plastiq fees and how to avoid
Plastiq currently charges a credit card processing fee of up to 2.9%. You can offset this fee by registering with a referral link and refer others to the platform. You will earn Free Dollars bonus when you sign up with a referral link or by referring someone then earn $2,500 payout in the first 30 days after signing up.
plastiq’s promotion
While it’s hard to justify the 2.9% fee, Plastiq does run promotions from time to time to cut fees. In the past, it has sent targeted offers for fee reductions or free Dollars that you can apply to future payments.
To make sure you don’t miss out on these promotions, sign up to receive email notifications from Plastiq. Whether you’re targeted for a special offer or notified of public promotions, signing up for email notifications ensures you don’t miss out on these deals.
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Related: How to get your card’s minimum spend bonus — even if you recently returned purchases for a refund
Plastiq Referral Program
If you have a lot of friends and family looking to earn miles on big purchases, you can earn Free Dollars by referring them to Plastiq. You will earn 2,500 FFD for each friend you refer earn $2,500 payout for the first 30 days after they sign up. Occasionally, you can also earn bonus FFDs during the promotion period.
Just keep in mind that FFDs expire 90 days after they were issued. An easy way to make sure they don’t expire is to use them to pay your mortgage or monthly rent. They must be high enough to use up any expiring FFDs you have.
Best Credit Cards to Pay Plastiq Bills
The best credit card to pay Plastiq bills is the one that earns rewards worth more than the fees you incur. Use Plastiq to meet the spending requirement per card with great welcome Incentives are another great option. For example, the Ink . Business Preferred Credit Card currently offering 100,000 bonus points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first three months after opening an account. If you’re having trouble meeting your spending requirements, Plastiq is an option to complete.
Likewise, a credit card that offers elite status or annual spending bonus would also be a great candidate for Plastiq bill payments. If the card you’re using earns more than 1 point for every dollar spent, that’s even better.
Related: Top 6 credit cards to maximize big purchases
How does Plastiq work?
Plastiq is quite simple to use. Once you sign up, you can add a credit card to your wallet and set up a payments profile. You can set up one-time or recurring payments for most merchants. When you pay by credit card, Plastiq will pay the merchant by check or wire transfer.
Since payments can take up to 11 days to receive, you’ll want to keep this in mind when choosing your payment options.
Plastiq has a payment schedule that tells you when payments will be posted so you can adjust your payment dates accordingly. If you make a last minute payment, you can pay extra for fast processing.
How to add new recipients in Plastiq
If you’re making a payment for the first time or adding a new provider, you’ll need to log in and click the blue plus sign to “check out”.
On the next screen for “Who do you want to pay?”, you will enter the name of the supplier. The system will search its network to see if your provider is on file, and if not, you can manually add the information.
You can choose to send your payment via paper check, automatic clearing bank transfer, or domestic transfer. Bank transfer is the fastest option, while paper checks can take up to 11 days to process.
Paid by check
If you want Plastiq to send your payment via check, you will be asked to provide the recipient’s address.
Finally, you will need to specify the services provided by the provider. Options include buying businesses, clubs and memberships, general inventory, labor and payroll, and insurance.
ACH and wire
For automatic clearing or wire transfer, you’ll be prompted to enter your provider’s name, bank account number, and routing number.
Paying through Plastiq is simple and requires only a few simple steps. Once you’ve added a recipient, you can skip most of these steps for future payments.
Related: A Beginner’s Guide to Points and Miles
Frequently asked questions about Plastiq
Here are some of the most common questions we receive about Plastiq:
What bills can you pay with Plastiq?
Using a credit card, you can pay almost any bill or merchant through Plastiq. This includes your rent, mortgage, car payments, your gardener, and pretty much everything in between.
The only payment restrictions are for “debt products,” investments, and others. Plastiq is considered a consumer-to-business product, so you cannot use it as a Venmo alternative to sending money to friends or family.
What credit cards does Plastiq accept?
Plastiq accepts a wide variety of major credit cards, including Visa, Mastercard, Discover and Diners Club. However, keep in mind that there are restrictions on the types of bills you can pay with each card.
Plastiq has a Helpful guide list all the different bills you can pay with your eligible card.
Note that as of February 10, Plastiq no longer accepts American Express. Any Amex cards that have been added to the account will be automatically deleted and new Amex cards cannot be added.
Payments also cannot be made with a personal Capital One credit card. However, the Capital One business credit card is accepted for some types of bills.
Can I use Plastiq to pay my credit card bill?
Unfortunately, you can’t use Plastiq to make a credit card payment because that payment falls under the limited scope of a “debt product”. While a mortgage is technically a debt product, Plastiq makes an exception in allowing you to pay with a credit card. That’s pretty handy because mortgage payments are a big expense for most people, and there’s really no other way to earn points on payments.
What are some alternatives to Plastiq?
There are several alternatives to Plastiq, depending on the type of bill you’re paying. If you are looking for pay tax by credit card, a cheaper option is to use an IRS-approved payment processor. Many of them accept credit cards with less than 2% processing fees.
If you want to use a credit card to pay your rent with no transaction fees, consider Bill Mastercard®. This annual free pass (see rates and fees) allows you to pay your rent with it and earn points where you might not be able to.
Brian Kelly, founder of TPG, is an advisor and investor of Bilt.
If you are looking for earn points when paying tuitionCheck with your university first as you may end up paying a lower card processing fee than Plastiq fees — or not at all.
PayPal is an option for peer-to-peer credit card payments because Plastiq does not allow those types of payments. The platform charges 2.9% plus a processing fee of $0.30 per transaction. That brings your total $1,000 payout to $29.30.
Related: The right way to pay your credit card bill
When should Plastiq be used?
Given the fees involved, you might be wondering if Plastiq is worth it. There are a few situations where it is reasonable to incur a 2.9% charge. For starters, if you’re trying meet big spending requirements for credit card sign-up bonuses, Plastiq might be worth looking into. You’ll pay around $29 per $1,000 payout, which could be worth it depending on the size of the signup bonus.
For example, the Prioritize printing ink business now offers 100,000 bonus points after you spend $15,000 in the first three months of account opening. Paying $15,000 through Plastiq will cost you about $435 in fees. While it’s certainly not a small amount, keep in mind that you can redeem your Ink Preferred welcome bonus for $1,250 worth of travel booked through Travel Portal Ultimate Reward. Even if you end up redeeming part of your signup bonus for cash back to offset Plastiq fees at 1 cent per point, you’ll still be ahead.
Our recommendation is, of course, transfer your point to one Chase travel partners to redeem premium rewards. In fact, you can pass $2,000 in value by following this path.
bottom line
Plastiq is a solid choice if you’re looking to earn points on a big purchase or need a little help meeting the big spend requirement. While the 2.9% fee can be substantial, you can save by signing up with a referral link or refer others. Irregular promotions can also eliminate a large portion of those fees. And if using Plastiq gives you a great credit card sign-up bonus, redeeming it for a high-value reward can also save you from those fees.
For Bilt Mastercard rates and fees, click This.
For Bilt Mastercard rewards and benefits, click This.
Additional reporting by Emily Thompson.
