Questions about paying bills with credit cards

[Anonymous]

Happy 2016! I am looking for input on paying bills with credit cards.  I would like to take advantage of cash back rewards this year as much as possible.  I am curious if anyone has experience with paying things such as mortgage and car loans with a credit card.  What are the pros and the cons or can it even be done to earn cash back?  I am considering paying one car payment and the mortgage with my USAA card, I would pay the balances as soon as they hit my card so as not to carry a balance.  Has anyone done this?

just to,clarify, I'm not having any sort of financial issues, my credit usage is 1%, I just wanted to find a way to make the money I already spend work for me since I don't really charge enough to take advantage of my cash back rewards.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous_0723 wrote:

Happy 2016! I am looking for input on paying bills with credit cards.  I would like to take advantage of cash back rewards this year as much as possible.  I am curious if anyone has experience with paying things such as mortgage and car loans with a credit card.  What are the pros and the cons or can it even be done to earn cash back?  I am considering paying one car payment and the mortgage with my USAA card, I would pay the balances as soon as they hit my card so as not to carry a balance.  Has anyone done this?

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There are several ways of paying auto loans and mortgages with credit cards.  However in most cases, the fees associated with doing so more than offset the rewards earned.  So unless you're doing it to meet a minimum spend requirement it's usually best to stick to making those payments in the conventional way.

[Anonymous]

Plastiq is a friend with mastercard network. They go 1.5% from time to time. Doing this is a terrible habit but really is your cash flow godsend if you need it. I used to flip cars and if this was available back in the day I would have done a lot better. there a lot of deals had to walk from because I was short, but didn't want to cash advance.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous_0723 wrote:

Happy 2016! I am looking for input on paying bills with credit cards.  I would like to take advantage of cash back rewards this year as much as possible.  I am curious if anyone has experience with paying things such as mortgage and car loans with a credit card.  What are the pros and the cons or can it even be done to earn cash back?  I am considering paying one car payment and the mortgage with my USAA card, I would pay the balances as soon as they hit my card so as not to carry a balance.  Has anyone done this?

---

There are several ways of paying auto loans and mortgages with credit cards.  However in most cases, the fees associated with doing so more than offset the rewards earned.  So unless you're doing it to meet a minimum spend requirement it's usually best to stick to making those payments in the conventional way.

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My credit usage is 1% and I only leave small balances to report each month.  If I pay the amount charged right after charging it, do I get fees? Do they consider this type of charge differently than say a department store charge?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Plastiq is a friend with mastercard network. They go 1.5% from time to time. Doing this is a terrible habit but really is your cash flow godsend if you need it. I used to flip cars and if this was available back in the day I would have done a lot better. there a lot of deals had to walk from because I was short, but didn't want to cash advance.

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I don't have any financial problems.  Credit usage 1% and I pay off before statement each month except a small amount to report to bureaus to show usage. I am just looking to make the payments I already make work for me by maybe getting some of it back.   I'm just not a person who charges much so I'm not getting the rewards from my cards.  So far from what I'm finding its not worth the hassle.  

[longtimelurker]

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@Anonymous_0723 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous_0723 wrote:

Happy 2016! I am looking for input on paying bills with credit cards.  I would like to take advantage of cash back rewards this year as much as possible.  I am curious if anyone has experience with paying things such as mortgage and car loans with a credit card.  What are the pros and the cons or can it even be done to earn cash back?  I am considering paying one car payment and the mortgage with my USAA card, I would pay the balances as soon as they hit my card so as not to carry a balance.  Has anyone done this?

---

There are several ways of paying auto loans and mortgages with credit cards.  However in most cases, the fees associated with doing so more than offset the rewards earned.  So unless you're doing it to meet a minimum spend requirement it's usually best to stick to making those payments in the conventional way.

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My credit usage is 1% and I only leave small balances to report each month.  If I pay the amount charged right after charging it, do I get fees? Do they consider this type of charge differently than say a department store charge?

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The fee Irish is referring to are not from the credit card issuer, they are either from the recipient (where the mortgage company etc charges a "convenience fee" for accepting credit cards) or from the third-party used, such as Plastqi etc.    So paying the cc won't avoid the fee.    From the ccs viewpoint, they are just purchases so no big problems that end.

There are other more complex ways that can be profitable, but these are not discussed here.   If you google "Paying mortgage with credit card" you will find lots of stuff, some of which is even up to date.

[Anonymous]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Anonymous_0723 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous_0723 wrote:

Happy 2016! I am looking for input on paying bills with credit cards.  I would like to take advantage of cash back rewards this year as much as possible.  I am curious if anyone has experience with paying things such as mortgage and car loans with a credit card.  What are the pros and the cons or can it even be done to earn cash back?  I am considering paying one car payment and the mortgage with my USAA card, I would pay the balances as soon as they hit my card so as not to carry a balance.  Has anyone done this?

---

There are several ways of paying auto loans and mortgages with credit cards.  However in most cases, the fees associated with doing so more than offset the rewards earned.  So unless you're doing it to meet a minimum spend requirement it's usually best to stick to making those payments in the conventional way.

---

My credit usage is 1% and I only leave small balances to report each month.  If I pay the amount charged right after charging it, do I get fees? Do they consider this type of charge differently than say a department store charge?

---

The fee Irish is referring to are not from the credit card issuer, they are either from the recipient (where the mortgage company etc charges a "convenience fee" for accepting credit cards) or from the third-party used, such as Plastqi etc.    So paying the cc won't avoid the fee.    From the ccs viewpoint, they are just purchases so no big problems that end.

There are other more complex ways that can be profitable, but these are not discussed here.   If you google "Paying mortgage with credit card" you will find lots of stuff, some of which is even up to date.

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Hey, thank you for the information.  I think I sort of suspected it wasn't the greatest idea.  I am thankful for the input. 

[jeffery581]

re:I'm just not a person who charges much so I'm not getting the rewards from my cards.  So far from what I'm finding its not worth the hassle.  

depends on how much a "hassle" is worth to you. Your going to spend your money anyway, why not get small % back. 2 clicks on capital one and account is credited in 2 days, just depends on the fee for using a cc, if any, for anything.

[Anonymous]

I'll be going the opposite direction, and just paying all my non-debt/pending collection accounts with autopay out of my checking account instead of the two credit cards.  Just use the cards for daily non-bill spending like gas and groceries and emergency spending plus whatever debts need to be kept out of collections. (so far none *knocks on wood*).

[EAJuggalo]

I just looked into paying my rent with a CC to get points.  It would cost me $33 to pay my $990 rent, so it's really more of a measure of last resort for me.  Maybe if I needed it to make a big spend requirement.