topic Re: Did you know this about Jared's?? in Credit Cards

Did you know this about Jared's??

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 02:12:32 GMT

Today I went with a friend to Jared's so she could pay her bill. Once we got there, she realized that she had left her checkbook home. The CSR asked her if she had her credit cards, and she said yes. The rep told her that she could use her credit card to pay her Jared's bill!!!! He says they allow that and that it only shows up as a purchase from Jared's on the credit card!!! Theoretically, one could get a lot of reward/bonus points from paying a Jared's bill!! This is the first time I have heard of a credit card allowing payment via another credit card, and thus racking up rewards!! Anyone else?

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

Epcot — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 03:27:17 GMT

I have never heard of this.. I could have some serious points racked up. Hmm. I guess I might try this next time I am in. Hope it's true.

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 03:50:21 GMT

@Epcot wrote:
I have never heard of this.. I could have some serious points racked up. Hmm. I guess I might try this next time I am in. Hope it's true.

I saw it with my own eyes!! If I had a Jared's card I would be all over racking up reward points for paying that card!

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

kimmiller112 — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 03:59:56 GMT

I think I'll try this at Kays next week. Thanks for sharing and I'll report back on it.

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 09:03:10 GMT

@kimmiller112 wrote:
I think I'll try this at Kays next week. Thanks for sharing and I'll report back on it.

Please do!

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 11:45:52 GMT

I called them about my acct and they confirm that you can pay with a cc. NICE

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 13:11:35 GMT

I pay my Kay's acct with my cc. I do the same with my husbands and my badcock furniture accts. I also was able to do it at target to pay my bill.

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

TiggerDat — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 13:24:43 GMT

That's like robbing Peter to pay Paul, or robbing Capone to pay Jared.

Be careful with that, as you are still paying interest. However, that being said, you could certainly use this as a way to transfer the balance to a lower interest rate card! You would also get an extra 30 days to pay or so. I would do it to get the rewards yeah! However, I do PIF, but I would still do it to make things look good for my credit and keep util even. In a way it seems silly they would allow this as they are getting less money with the discount rate of the credit card, but hey whatever. I used to transfer balances to my Capone card, then pay them off immediately, so they would have to get less from the processing of the payment, since it does cost some money. I would never have done that but because they never give CLI's I did it as a way of revenge.

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 13:29:23 GMT

@Credit314 wrote:
I called them about my acct and they confirm that you can pay with a cc. NICE

Yes, it is nice and not usual! What would be the best way to take advantage of a situation like that?

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 14:22:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Credit314 wrote:
I called them about my acct and they confirm that you can pay with a cc. NICE
Yes, it is nice and not usual! What would be the best way to take advantage of a situation like that?

Being 100% certain you're actually coming out ahead would require doing the math.

My math gut says there aren't a lot of instances where someone carrying a balance would really come out ahead using such tactics.

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

frugalQ — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 16:12:29 GMT

I see this as a win win. If you are already planning to pay the Jared balance (whether in installments or in full), its more beneficial to pay it with a rewards card...and repurpose the Jared bill payment to your rewards cards. I don't consider that robbing Peter to pay Paul.
It's the exact same concept as using your credit card to pay utilities.

The major credit card companies may actually have Jared in the online mall of stores and you can get 5x the rewards points for using their link.

However, as with all things credit, you have to have the discipline to actually pay the 'daily expenses' credit card in full each month.

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 16:19:02 GMT

@frugalQ wrote:
I see this as a win win. If you are already planning to pay the Jared balance (whether in installments or in full), its more beneficial to pay it with a rewards card...and repurpose the Jared bill payment to your rewards cards. I don't consider that robbing Peter to pay Paul.
It's the exact same concept as using your credit card to pay utilities.

The major credit card companies may actually have Jared in the online mall of stores and you can get 5x the rewards points for using their link.

However, as with all things credit, you have to have the discipline to actually pay the 'daily expenses' credit card in full each month.

I never thought about that! Places like Discover mall, ultimate rewards mall, and even navy federal mall has great discounts on top of regular rewards!!

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 16:24:51 GMT

Mods please feel free to modify or delete this post if it's deemed offensive. I just feel people are dancing around the issue.

How many people using Jareds qualify for a rewards card good enough to offset the interest rate?

IMO, it's a math thing. If you're still going deeper in the hole, it doesn't make sense.

I'm not arguing that there aren't scenarios where doing this makes good financial sense. Simply saying occasions where it makes sense are relatively rare.

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 16:28:37 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Mods please feel free to modify or delete this post if it's deemed offensive. I just feel people are dancing around the issue.

How many people using Jareds qualify for a rewards card good enough to offset the interest rate?

IMO, it's a math thing. If you're still going deeper in the hole, it doesn't make sense.

I'm not arguing that there aren't scenarios where doing this makes good financial sense. Simply saying occasions where it makes sense are relatively rare.

I don't have Jared's, but if I did, I have some pretty good cards that I could use. Several of them are still on a 0% promo i.e. Chase Freedom, my citi AA, my Navy Fed is still on 0% on purchases, etc.

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 16:36:06 GMT

@ LesW,

Jared's APR ranges from 5-24.99%.

They're a good company for those rebuilding and I'm not knocking them in the least. Simply stating that someone would need a rewards card that actually offset whatever interest they were paying for doing what the original post was about to actually make sense.

Bouncing debt around on 0% offers doesn't always help people save money unless they aggressively pay it down.

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

TiggerDat — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 16:44:50 GMT

I must agree with most of the sentiment about it being obtuse. I do PIF every month anyway and I don't have a Jared's account. (I do have some account or used to for Jewels, but never actually used it, I thought it would report to the credit bureaus so I got it, but since it didn't and I didn't want to simply buy something so it would, I never used it.) I guess if I did have the account I would use it for reporting, then PIF with another card, then PIF that card to get the rewards.

I guess I would have to weigh that against there being better points or cash back from the card mall too. I would certainly do whatever got the best discount and rewards!

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 17:27:23 GMT

Wait. I am new here but this seems almost ummm..questionable. The mint had something like this awhile back and they stopped it.

Folks could buy Coin currency via credit card at a 1 to 1 rate of exchange. one quarter for one quarter for example. Then the cash was shipped to them during the mint's free shipping promotion and the buyer had the same dollar amount in cash (Coin) currency in hand that he paid on his "Reward" points card.

Said person then returned said currency to his bank, again at a one to one rate and paid off the balance of his purchase but managed to hang onto all the reward points which he could then turn in for gift cards, statement credits, products or services of value.

I see the Jared thing as the same sort of manipulation. Technically okay, but morally, prolly not so much.

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

frugalQ — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 18:06:54 GMT

It depends on how you use it. If I purchase a $2k piece of jewelry and use the Jared card, I will have to pay the monthly bill regardless. What is wrong with me using my reward card to pay that bill, and just put the $$$ allocated for Jared to pay the rewards card? If I'm going to pay interest on the balance, I may as well try and offset a portion of that interest with some cash back.

It's the same as me using my AmEx to pay my cell phone bill, and just payoff the Amex.

I don't have a Jared's card, so I don't know the details, but they may have 0% specials. In that case, it makes more sense to pay the monthly bill with a rewards card.

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

frugalQ — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 18:24:07 GMT

I pay my cell phone, water, car insurance, cable, home warranty, security alarm bills with my Amex....for the sole purpose of getting Reward points. Am I morally wrong for doing this?

Re: Did you know this about Jared's??

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 18:25:42 GMT

@frugalQ wrote:
I pay my cell phone, water, car insurance, cable, home warranty, security alarm bills with my Amex....for the sole purpose of getting Reward points. Am I morally wrong for doing this?

Absolutely not!

I do the exact same thing.

Anybody who doesn't take advantage of rewards when paying their bills is foolish IMO.