topic Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments in Credit Cards

Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

jake619 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:31:14 GMT

That was vague. I'm looking for any cards that allow you to pay bills by check that also generate rewards but don't count as cash advances. For example, one of our car loans only accepts checks by mail or ACH from checking accounts. I'd like to have a card that will cut a check payable to them so I can realize some rewards on the payments. For that matter, how about mortgate or rent payments? Does it even exist?

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

mirachi — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:34:40 GMT

Do you mean if you can pay your bill by mailing a check to the CCCs rather than paying online?

If so, I believe unless you opt into the paperless statements, you can do so with all CCCs...

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

jake619 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:41:01 GMT

No. I mean this. My car payment is $636/mo. I can't charge it because the creditor only accepts mailed checks or ACH pulls to pay it. This eliminates > $600 I don't earn rewards on. So I want my CC to bill pay my loan via snail mail, earn the rewards on $636 and not classify as cash advance.

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

jsickz32 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:46:18 GMT

I know NFCU, BofA and barclays send checks that you can use to pay w.e you want. But some have % fees so it would cancel any rewards you trying to get.

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

injustifiiable — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:50:15 GMT

Oh, basically one of those access checks. I doubt you'd be able to get it NOT counted as a cash advance unless it was in some promo period or something. Either way, the issuers usually tack a Balance Transfer fee on to it, so it probably wouldn't make any financial sense anyway.

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

jake619 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:52:48 GMT

Yea I wasn't thinking in terms of those "convenience checks" you get but more along the likes of a card with true bill pay services. I guess when I start my own CCC I'll offer it.

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

mirachi — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 19:07:26 GMT

Based on an earlier topic, it seems like it would be considered a cash advance?

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Paying-My-Auto-Loan-with-A-Credit-Card/td-p/935628

Same link also suggested chargesmart.com so depending on your lender that might work?

EDIT: more information about chargesmart here http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/10/bill-paying-made-easier-but-for-a-fee/

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 19:28:25 GMT

@jake619 wrote:
Yea I wasn't thinking in terms of those "convenience checks" you get but more along the likes of a card with true bill pay services. I guess when I start my own CCC I'll offer it.

Any timeline for this! Anyway, I assume the reason the payee doesn't take credit cards is that they don't want to pay the "swipe fee" to the credit card company. If what you suggested exist, all merchants would want that instead of credit cards, as:

a) They get to keep all the money

b) The consumer pays no more than before (no BT fee, no CA fee or interest)

leading to:

c) The credit card company processes the transfer for free, X to the payee, X from the user. EDIT: and gives rewards anyway

which could suggest what such things aren't offered. So when you start Jake "BIG 619" Credit Card Company, remember to charge a large AF so that you get some profit!

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

boomersooner02000 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:01:11 GMT

Sign up for a Amex Bluebird. Then find yourself a CVS or Office Depot that will let you purchase $500 Vanilla reloads with a miles or cash back credit card(make sure you're not charged a cash advance fee). Then load those onto your bluebird and use the bill pay feature of bluebird to pay your car etc...

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:10:59 GMT

+1 Good idea

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

solxp — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:52:18 GMT

@jake619 wrote:
That was vague. I'm looking for any cards that allow you to pay bills by check that also generate rewards but don't count as cash advances. For example, one of our car loans only accepts checks by mail or ACH from checking accounts. I'd like to have a card that will cut a check payable to them so I can realize some rewards on the payments. For that matter, how about mortgage or rent payments? Does it even exist?

One option I have used before is Bluebird. Bluebird is a free fee free in certain situation pre-paid card that Amex and Walmart started offering around Oct of last year. With Bluebird you can set up bill pay and they will cut checks or do electronic transfers for free. There is no monthly fee or min required. As far as reward go there are none for bluebird however there is a way to you can use it as a middle man to receive rewards. This come with a cost so you have to look at the entire picture before deciding whether it works for you or not.

How it works is you choose your best rewards card then purchase a vanilla reload card at walgreens or office depot then pay for it with your rewards card Credit Card. Keep in mind there is a 3.95 fee charged per transaction so smaller transaction would not be worth it. In the specific example you stated however it would be worth it in the long run.

Here is how it would work. Sign up online for a bluebird account or simply go into a walmart and pickup starter kit(5.00 fee in store Free online). Once you have received your permanent card (you can not reload money on to the store temp card so really no reason to not just get it online). Next setup the accounts you want to pay its very simple and most large companies will pop up during the process indicating you can do ACH transfers if they do not just enter in all the info and Bluebird will mail them a check for free.

Funding: To fund the bluebird account go to office depot or walgreen or anyplace that sells vanilla reload cards and buy them with your rewards card. do not waste money on purchases below 400 I will explain that more later. You will be charged a 3.95 fee for the transaction. I think the limit per card is 500.00 but not positive the most I ever bought at one time was 3 cards for 1500.00. Then go to the vanilla reload site and add the money to your Bluebird card it will show up instantly. Then go to bluebird and send out the money to whoever you want.

Why its not worth it to buy reloads under 400 at 1% rewards the 3.95 fee wiped out any gain 2% will not see any benefit for under 200.00

Is it worth it: What its worth to some maybe not be worthwhile for others. Lets take your car payment. Its 6##.00 a month, For a 1% cash reward card using the table below you would net about $13.00 a year which may or may not be worth it to you. For a 2% card you would net around 89.00 dollars a year.

Month	# reloads	Amount	Payments	Balance
Jan	2	$1,000.00	$635.00	$365.00
Feb	1	$500.00	$635.00	$230.00
Mar	1	$500.00	$635.00	$95.00
Apr	2	$1,000.00	$635.00	$460.00
May	1	$500.00	$635.00	$325.00
Jun	1	$500.00	$635.00	$190.00
Jul	1	$500.00	$635.00	$55.00
Aug	2	$1,000.00	$635.00	$420.00
Sep	1	$500.00	$635.00	$285.00
Oct	1	$500.00	$635.00	$150.00
Nov	1	$500.00	$635.00	$15.00
Dec	2	$620.00	$635.00	$0.00

	16	$7,620.00	$7,620.00
	Reload Fee	1% card	2% card
	$63.20	$76.20	$152.40	subtract fee to get total net

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

solxp — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:55:23 GMT

@boomersooner02000 wrote:
Sign up for a Amex Bluebird. Then find yourself a CVS or Office Depot that will let you purchase $500 Vanilla reloads with a miles or cash back credit card(make sure you're not charged a cash advance fee). Then load those onto your bluebird and use the bill pay feature of bluebird to pay your car etc...

I took to long to type my reply and Boomersooner beat me to the punch

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

ztnjpv — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 23:08:20 GMT

I don't know of any bank loans of any kind that take CCs for installments without a fee. If you know of any, please let me know, I'll move my mortgage, car and personal loans there.

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

ztnjpv — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 23:10:37 GMT

Light Bulb:

If you don't already use Amazon payments for anything, you can transfer $1000 per month with no fees to someone. Google it and read about it. Send money with your card every month to someone you can trust...family member, spouse and then have them give you the money back.

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 23:35:05 GMT

Citi Forward just sent some with my new card

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

jake619 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 23:57:12 GMT

@solairedp wrote:
@jake619 wrote:
That was vague. I'm looking for any cards that allow you to pay bills by check that also generate rewards but don't count as cash advances. For example, one of our car loans only accepts checks by mail or ACH from checking accounts. I'd like to have a card that will cut a check payable to them so I can realize some rewards on the payments. For that matter, how about mortgage or rent payments? Does it even exist?
One option I have used before is Bluebird. Bluebird is a free fee free in certain situation pre-paid card that Amex and Walmart started offering around Oct of last year. With Bluebird you can set up bill pay and they will cut checks or do electronic transfers for free. There is no monthly fee or min required. As far as reward go there are none for bluebird however there is a way to you can use it as a middle man to receive rewards. This come with a cost so you have to look at the entire picture before deciding whether it works for you or not.

How it works is you choose your best rewards card then purchase a vanilla reload card at walgreens or office depot then pay for it with your rewards card Credit Card. Keep in mind there is a 3.95 fee charged per transaction so smaller transaction would not be worth it. In the specific example you stated however it would be worth it in the long run.

Here is how it would work. Sign up online for a bluebird account or simply go into a walmart and pickup starter kit(5.00 fee in store Free online). Once you have received your permanent card (you can not reload money on to the store temp card so really no reason to not just get it online). Next setup the accounts you want to pay its very simple and most large companies will pop up during the process indicating you can do ACH transfers if they do not just enter in all the info and Bluebird will mail them a check for free.

Funding: To fund the bluebird account go to office depot or walgreen or anyplace that sells vanilla reload cards and buy them with your rewards card. do not waste money on purchases below 400 I will explain that more later. You will be charged a 3.95 fee for the transaction. I think the limit per card is 500.00 but not positive the most I ever bought at one time was 3 cards for 1500.00. Then go to the vanilla reload site and add the money to your Bluebird card it will show up instantly. Then go to bluebird and send out the money to whoever you want.

Why its not worth it to buy reloads under 400 at 1% rewards the 3.95 fee wiped out any gain 2% will not see any benefit for under 200.00

Is it worth it: What its worth to some maybe not be worthwhile for others. Lets take your car payment. Its 6##.00 a month, For a 1% cash reward card using the table below you would net about $13.00 a year which may or may not be worth it to you. For a 2% card you would net around 89.00 dollars a year.

Month # reloads Amount Payments Balance
Jan 2 $1,000.00 $635.00 $365.00
Feb 1 $500.00 $635.00 $230.00
Mar 1 $500.00 $635.00 $95.00
Apr 2 $1,000.00 $635.00 $460.00
May 1 $500.00 $635.00 $325.00
Jun 1 $500.00 $635.00 $190.00
Jul 1 $500.00 $635.00 $55.00
Aug 2 $1,000.00 $635.00 $420.00
Sep 1 $500.00 $635.00 $285.00
Oct 1 $500.00 $635.00 $150.00
Nov 1 $500.00 $635.00 $15.00
Dec 2 $620.00 $635.00 $0.00

16 $7,620.00 $7,620.00
Reload Fee 1% card 2% card
$63.20 $76.20
$152.40
subtract fee to get total net

Now that's a solution. Wow. Thanks for the lesson. Very informative. Maybe I should have got BCP instead of BCE You think using AMEX to buy the reloads and then depositing the money into BlueBird would be suspicious? Maybe use another card? CASH+ may be viable in the rewards arena.

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

solxp — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 00:30:15 GMT

@jake619 wrote:

Now that's a solution. Wow. Thanks for the lesson. Very informative. Maybe I should have got BCP instead of BCE You think using AMEX to buy the reloads and then depositing the money into BlueBird would be suspicious? Maybe use another card? CASH+ may be viable in the rewards arena.

I rotated between a cash rewards card and my discover escape at current spending will be about 5k on each this year run thru them just from bluebird reloads. As I said in my first post I never ever pay either of those two credit card bills with Bluebird only places that do not take CC payments directly. I think that gives me pretty solid ground which i can document and show I am simply using my credit cards to pay bills that do not offer CC payment options because they do not want to pay

interchange fees.

I looked into amazon payments before choosing the Bluebird route personally I felt that was risky and a grey area that while it may not be breaking the letter of the law it definetely cross the spirit of the law but again that is just my personal feeling and I am not a lawyer. I do know that there are many sites that allow you to pay them by credit card and for a surcharge they will cut a check and mail it to whoever you want this just cuts the middle man out and saves me money.

In the 3 1/2 months since i have been doing this I recieved an auto cli on one of the cards last week so they dont seem to mind.

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

stone — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 06:23:29 GMT

@solairedp wrote:
@jake619 wrote:
That was vague. I'm looking for any cards that allow you to pay bills by check that also generate rewards but don't count as cash advances. For example, one of our car loans only accepts checks by mail or ACH from checking accounts. I'd like to have a card that will cut a check payable to them so I can realize some rewards on the payments. For that matter, how about mortgage or rent payments? Does it even exist?
One option I have used before is Bluebird. Bluebird is a free fee free in certain situation pre-paid card that Amex and Walmart started offering around Oct of last year. With Bluebird you can set up bill pay and they will cut checks or do electronic transfers for free. There is no monthly fee or min required. As far as reward go there are none for bluebird however there is a way to you can use it as a middle man to receive rewards. This come with a cost so you have to look at the entire picture before deciding whether it works for you or not.

How it works is you choose your best rewards card then purchase a vanilla reload card at walgreens or office depot then pay for it with your rewards card Credit Card. Keep in mind there is a 3.95 fee charged per transaction so smaller transaction would not be worth it. In the specific example you stated however it would be worth it in the long run.

Here is how it would work. Sign up online for a bluebird account or simply go into a walmart and pickup starter kit(5.00 fee in store Free online). Once you have received your permanent card (you can not reload money on to the store temp card so really no reason to not just get it online). Next setup the accounts you want to pay its very simple and most large companies will pop up during the process indicating you can do ACH transfers if they do not just enter in all the info and Bluebird will mail them a check for free.

Funding: To fund the bluebird account go to office depot or walgreen or anyplace that sells vanilla reload cards and buy them with your rewards card. do not waste money on purchases below 400 I will explain that more later. You will be charged a 3.95 fee for the transaction. I think the limit per card is 500.00 but not positive the most I ever bought at one time was 3 cards for 1500.00. Then go to the vanilla reload site and add the money to your Bluebird card it will show up instantly. Then go to bluebird and send out the money to whoever you want.

Why its not worth it to buy reloads under 400 at 1% rewards the 3.95 fee wiped out any gain 2% will not see any benefit for under 200.00

Is it worth it: What its worth to some maybe not be worthwhile for others. Lets take your car payment. Its 6##.00 a month, For a 1% cash reward card using the table below you would net about $13.00 a year which may or may not be worth it to you. For a 2% card you would net around 89.00 dollars a year.

Month # reloads Amount Payments Balance
Jan 2 $1,000.00 $635.00 $365.00
Feb 1 $500.00 $635.00 $230.00
Mar 1 $500.00 $635.00 $95.00
Apr 2 $1,000.00 $635.00 $460.00
May 1 $500.00 $635.00 $325.00
Jun 1 $500.00 $635.00 $190.00
Jul 1 $500.00 $635.00 $55.00
Aug 2 $1,000.00 $635.00 $420.00
Sep 1 $500.00 $635.00 $285.00
Oct 1 $500.00 $635.00 $150.00
Nov 1 $500.00 $635.00 $15.00
Dec 2 $620.00 $635.00 $0.00

16 $7,620.00 $7,620.00
Reload Fee 1% card 2% card
$63.20 $76.20
$152.40
subtract fee to get total net

THANKS for the input, this is really a good idea to earn reward. But amex do not let sign up a bluebird since i got a serve account.

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

ztnjpv — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 16:18:53 GMT

Very interesting info on BlueBird. I had no idea. I never really paid much attention to prepaid cards. Just signed up and waiting for the goods to come in the mail.

Question:

After doing some reading, I see this is all well covered material with points/miles enthusiasts on the web. BUT, I did see Office Depot starting to crack down on this back in November. Any current experiences? Also, does it HAVE to be Vanilla loadable cards? Any other options?

Re: Which Cards Offer Check By Mail Payments

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 19:31:14 GMT

@ztnjpv wrote:
Very interesting info on BlueBird. I had no idea. I never really paid much attention to prepaid cards. Just signed up and waiting for the goods to come in the mail.

Question:

After doing some reading, I see this is all well covered material with points/miles enthusiasts on the web. BUT, I did see Office Depot starting to crack down on this back in November. Any current experiences? Also, does it HAVE to be Vanilla loadable cards? Any other options?

This BB + VR strategy has been around for several months. The golden era was when Office Depot accepted credit cards to pay for VR cards. You'd use a Chase Ink card to get 5x on office supply stores (like OD). After netting out the $3.95 loading fee you still get 4.44x in UR points. What made it so amazing was the BB bill pay feature, which allowed you to get 4.44x on your car payments, mortgage payments, etc.

Office Depot pulled VR cards off their shelves around November of last year, but not before I loaded my BB account with $50k+. It still makes sense to use this strategy in order to hit minimum spend amounts, and if you can find a CVS that carries VR cards and allows you to purchase them with credit cards, you can still use your Freedom and Dividend cards to get the 5x in drug stores this quarter, which I maxed out just last week. However, finding such a CVS is difficult.