topic Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card... in Credit Cards

Avant 2% cash back card actually a ̶3̶%̶ 2.98% catch-all

BuckyB — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 23:23:43 GMT

About a month ago I saw an ad on CK for an Avant 2% cash back card with "outstanding" approval odds so I took it. Previously, Avant was decent enough to mail me an offer for a standard, no rewards, NAF card a full year before anyone else would (a year before two collections dropped off my CRs) that started out with a $300 limit then was automatically bumped to $500 then was bumped to $750 when I asked. They wouldn't go above $750 so I closed the card once I started getting better cards from other issuers. Then, a month ago saw the aforementioned CK offer for...

2% cash back rewards Avant card with no annual fee

It's not really a "cash back" card, Avant simply gives you a statement credit for 2% of the statement balance. Probably pretty easy to do on their back-end rather than run an actual cash-back scheme. I'm a fan of this because I don't have to screw around with it. No points, no silliness; it's essentially just an automatic 2% discount on everything with no limit.

I was approved for $2000 CL. Apparently the highest limit Avant offers is $3000.

The interesting thing about Avant is they allow payment with debit cards. Just dawned on me (I'm a little slow): if I pay the statement with a 1% cash back debit card like Dxxxxxxx or Axxxxxxx CU, that turns Avant into an effective net 3% 2.98% (see correction below) catch-all card, which is pretty great.

Otherwise, I've never had any problems with Avant (knock on wood). Their app works but is pretty barebones. My main problem with them is there are no purchase alerts that can be set, neither app-push nor text nor email. Not through the app nor on their web site. That might be a dealbreaker for some. I'm glad I had them set up on my Cap One card because just a few days ago someone apparently cloned the card and tried to use it to make some big purchase. I got a text message instantly, made the call to Cap One thirty seconds later and they were able to reverse the charge within 5 minutes and ship me out a new card that day.

I'm on vacation now and don't have my 1% debit cards with me so I can't try to pay with one but I don't know why they wouldn't give 1% back on a payment such as this. I'll try with both when I'm back home.

Otherwise the only issue with Avant is they apparently don't give CLs higher than $3000 for anyone. Hopefully that will change some day.

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card...

Anonymous — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 20:40:03 GMT

Mathematical pedant stuff! Assuming the debit card works, it's just under 3%

Assume the charge is $100

The statement is therefore $98, which you pay with the debit card earning 98c, therefore that total you pay on $100 charge is $97.02, as compared to $97 on a true 3% card

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card...

BuckyB — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 22:18:57 GMT

Don't leave us hanging! What would that be exactly, rounded to the nearest hundredth of a percent? 2.98%? (Lawyers can't do math)

The card can be found by googling "Avant 2% cash back" which should bring up a list of results. Can't be done through the Avant site BTW. All their publicly offered cards have an annual fee and are likely not cash back cards.

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card...

Bockrocker — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 23:38:03 GMT

Pretty cool. If discover or staples gift cards works it could be a nice find. You pay with debit directly through their site?

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card...

Anonymous — Sun, 24 Dec 2023 00:37:39 GMT

There was a brief discussion of this card earlier: Avant Cash Back Rewards 2% / Indigo MasterCard - myFICO® Forums - 6669480

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card...

ptatohed — Sun, 24 Dec 2023 06:20:28 GMT

So, is Avant the only card on the market that allows debit card statement pay? If not, then this concept would make any credit card that accepts debit card payment a +1% card.

What's the best 1% debit card to use?

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card...

BuckyB — Sun, 24 Dec 2023 18:56:42 GMT

Gonna find out, if any! They might reject the cash back on payments such as this so we'll see.

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a ̶3̶%̶ 2.98% catch-all

IcyCool7227 — Mon, 25 Dec 2023 09:05:22 GMT

BuckyB, What debit cards are paying 1% cashback with paying a credit card that you have? None of the many ones I have offer 1% or more on credit card payments. They consider it to be loan payments which aren't eligible.

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a ̶3̶%̶ 2.98% catch-all

BuckyB — Mon, 25 Dec 2023 17:01:15 GMT

Mine might too, gotta try and see, will update then. What debit card(s) have you tried and what credit card(s) did you pay with it/them?

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a ̶3̶%̶ 2.98% catch-all

ptatohed — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 01:12:33 GMT

@IcyCool7227 wrote:
BuckyB, What debit cards are paying 1% cashback with paying a credit card that you have? None of the many ones I have offer 1% or more on credit card payments. They consider it to be loan payments which aren't eligible.

He said he was going to test it and get back to us.

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card...

BuckyB — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 01:24:40 GMT

@Bockrocker wrote:
Pretty cool. If discover or staples gift cards works it could be a nice find. You pay with debit directly through their site?

Correct but let me see if the debit cards I'm thinking of will do what I want them to do.

Though the idea of paying with a prepaid card is certainly interesting.. hmmmm

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card...

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 12:26:40 GMT

@BuckyB wrote:

Though the idea of paying with a prepaid card is certainly interesting.. hmmmm

From time to time this has been used by MS players. The major use case is/was Citi, taking payment over the phone. It seemed to vary by rep (some would say "debit" cards could only be used if payment was already late" etc) but there was a lot of success.

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card...

Zoostation1 — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 16:11:16 GMT

@BuckyB wrote:
Don't leave us hanging! What would that be exactly, rounded to the nearest hundredth of a percent? 2.98%? (Lawyers can't do math)

The card can be found by googling "Avant 2% cash back" which should bring up a list of results. Can't be done through the Avant site BTW. All their publicly offered cards have an annual fee and are likely not cash back cards.

I had a targeted mailer for this card back in April, roughly a year and a half after I got back into the world of credit. The mailer noted $3k as the max starting limit, but didn't reference it as a the max they'll go to in total. I didn't take them up on it cause I was just far enough along to have a chance with some prime cards.

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card...

Wingly — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 12:38:56 GMT

I can confirm paying over the automated phone system still works with Citi and Sync cards (don't have to be late). Debit cards that has worked for me with this method has been the Affinity and the Coinbase debit card. It's still a little bit of a hassle having to remember to call for that extra 1% but it's a bonus for any Citi and Sync card when you do remember.

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card...

youngandcreditwrthy — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 20:02:46 GMT

are they charging a fee though for the debit card payment?

mercedes let me pay my payment on a card last month, waived the fee, and I got 1.5% back! :-)

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card...

BuckyB — Sat, 30 Dec 2023 05:42:56 GMT

No fee on the debit card payment, HOWEVER, I split the payment into two, trying both the Dis***** debit card and the Aff***** FCU cards, and...

The AFCU card went through OK. We'll see if it gets its 1% reward.

But the Disco debit card was rejected. An automated error said "The card information you entered appears to belong to a credit card. If this is a mistake, please re-enter your debit card information or call 800-BLAHBLAH." Tried on both app and web site to no avail.

So I'm assuming the Disco card prefix of "6011" is coded in their system as "credit card."

The sad thing is AFCU only gives 1% back on the first $1000 spent each month so not sure it's worth the effort, even if it gets cash back for this type of transaction. Since the Disco debit gets 1% back on the first $3000/month, I'm tempted to call the 800 number and try to add the Disco debit with a rep but I have a feeling they'll just get the same error and it'll be a waste of my time.

Kinda disappointed.

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card...

IcyCool7227 — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 21:48:36 GMT

Bucky what ended up happening? Did you get the cashback?

Also I did find that the FutureCard debit works with 1% if you email them to credit it manually as I used it for the first old U.S. Bank charge off payment and Amazon Sybchrony. But if you use PayPal bill pay with their debit card they won't credit it manually as they don't get 1% being a PayPal service.

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card...

IcyCool7227 — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 21:06:34 GMT

Has anyone gotten cashback with Affinity's cashback debit card for paying their credit card bills? I would like to know so I don't have to waste a Chex inquiry to find out. Other than that nowadays the best debit card to pay credit card bills is the 50 cent Primis one but I'm very careful not to charge lots of little amounts in a short time span as I don't want to be seen as abusing their rewards program.

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card...

pip3man — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 21:36:34 GMT

@IcyCool7227 wrote:
Has anyone gotten cashback with Affinity's cashback debit card for paying their credit card bills? I would like to know so I don't have to waste a Chex inquiry to find out. Other than that nowadays the best debit card to pay credit card bills is the 50 cent Primis one but I'm very careful not to charge lots of little amounts in a short time span as I don't want to be seen as abusing their rewards program.

I have and can confirm this. I consistently get 1% cashback on my Affinity debit card for using it to make credit card payment. I have Mercury MC and Capital One CC that accepts debit payments. C1 took away that option though. As long as the transaction post as a "POS" you will get 1% cashback on the first $1000 per month.

Re: Avant 2% cash back card actually a 3% catch-all card...

ptatohed — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 22:13:18 GMT

@IcyCool7227 wrote:
Has anyone gotten cashback with Affinity's cashback debit card for paying their credit card bills? I would like to know so I don't have to waste a Chex inquiry to find out. Other than that nowadays the best debit card to pay credit card bills is the 50 cent Primis one but I'm very careful not to charge lots of little amounts in a short time span as I don't want to be seen as abusing their rewards program.

So, you are saying that because you don't have a debit card to get 1%, the 50c is the best? How are you paying your credit cards with debit cards. The only payment options I see for my credit cards is Checking or Savings. Is citi the only cc company that allows debit card payments?