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Bill Pay w/Credit Card Do You or Don't You

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CarbonCard
Established Contributor

Re: Bill Pay w/Credit Card Do You or Don't You

I do it every month with my Cable and Wireless bills (hence why I want  to get that Ink Classic sooo much)

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Message 31 of 43
longtimelurker
Epic Contributor

Re: Bill Pay w/Credit Card Do You or Don't You


@Open123 wrote:

One second, guys.  LOL

 

Serve is similar to Bluebird (both are offered by Amex), but with some differences.

 

1.  Serve can be loaded with a credit card through your PC or smart phone.  

2.  Full featured bill pay, just like any bank account - so, you can bill pay a car note, or rent to your landlord.

 

However, the limitation with CC loading is $250 per month, and $100 per day.  While it is possible, these limitations will relegate Serve to paying Utilities, student loan payments, and small car note.  With a debit card, you can load up to $1,000 per month.

 

Bluebird can't be loaded by a CC directly, and requires you to purchase "Vanilla reloads" at a supermarket or drugstore, which can be loaded at a Walmart.  I believe you can load up to $10,000?  Bluebird too has full bill pay and check writing capabilities, which if funded, can literally pay anything from a car loan to a mortgage, while allowing you to not only earn points, but profit from the payments with the right rewards card.

 

In short, there's no reason to pay a "service charge" to any provider for using a CC.


Just to give a little more detail on Bluebird (which I mainly use for 5x TYP abuse rather than bill-pay, but still).  As Open says, you (may be able to buy) Vanilla Reloads with a reward card, for a fee of $3.95 for up to $500.   You don't have to go to Walmart, you can load your bluebird online, for free, using the Vanilla Reload Network website.   The per-card limits are $1,000 load per day, $5,000 per month, and total balance can't exceed $10K.   You can load the Bluebird with debit card+pin for free at Walmart, or online for $2 with a very low limit (so you shouldn't do this!).

 

Once loaded, like Serve, Bluebird is a full bill-pay system, allowing you to send funds to anyone (which Bluebird  does electronically for many vendors, or sending a check via mail for others, like a bank bill pay).  Bluebird also offers a book of checks, which were initially free but may now incur a charge.  There is little point to this, as each check has to be authorized online before use, and bluebird can send a check (for free) to anyone anyway.

 

So both are good, but Amex only allows you to have one.

 

So a quick summary:

 

Serve:  Easy to use, just load online with a card.  Major drawback is small amount that can be loaded

Bluebird: Needs to be loaded with Vanilla Reload or debit cards, both of which usually have a fee to buy.  You may have trouble buying VRs with a credit card depending on where you live.  Advantage is higher limit and, with the right type of  card (e.g. something giving 5x at drug stores) you can get more rewards.  So a $500 VR costs $3.95, but can give you 2,519 points.   Or you can buy a $500 debit card at some supermarkets for $4.95, and get 6% off with BCP (although the cap on that card ruins the fun).

 

But if you don't have a card giving 2 or more times at supermarkets or drug stores, Serve is probably the way to go

Message 32 of 43
leoment
Frequent Contributor

Re: Bill Pay w/Credit Card Do You or Don't You


@myjourney wrote:

Yes I do pay bills with CC and the results are a lot of POINTS every month for things I have to pay anyway ....Woooo Hoooo


I subscribe to this thinking - since these bills have to be paid regardless, might as well reap the benefits Smiley Happy  Pretty much any bill that doesn't carry a surcharge for CC is put on a CC.

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Message 33 of 43
Open123
Super Contributor

Re: Bill Pay w/Credit Card Do You or Don't You


@longtimelurker wrote:

Just to give a little more detail on Bluebird (which I mainly use for 5x TYP abuse rather than bill-pay, but still).  As Open says, you (may be able to buy) Vanilla Reloads with a reward card, for a fee of $3.95 for up to $500.   You don't have to go to Walmart, you can load your bluebird online, for free, 


If one has VRs available for purchase with a CC, Bluebird is clearly the better option.  Even without VRs, but with a Walmart in close proximity, one could buy GCs from the supermarket or drugstore and just load it there with the pin #.

 

 

Message 34 of 43
bribro
Valued Contributor

Re: Bill Pay w/Credit Card Do You or Don't You

I put everything I possibly can on a credit card. Haven't used my debit card in years, and I don't even have a checkbook.

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Message 35 of 43
OptimalCS
Frequent Contributor

Re: Bill Pay w/Credit Card Do You or Don't You

Rack up those points and pay in full every month!!

"Wisdom is the principal thing..."
Message 36 of 43
longtimelurker
Epic Contributor

Re: Bill Pay w/Credit Card Do You or Don't You


@Open123 wrote:

@longtimelurker wrote:

Just to give a little more detail on Bluebird (which I mainly use for 5x TYP abuse rather than bill-pay, but still).  As Open says, you (may be able to buy) Vanilla Reloads with a reward card, for a fee of $3.95 for up to $500.   You don't have to go to Walmart, you can load your bluebird online, for free, 


If one has VRs available for purchase with a CC, Bluebird is clearly the better option.  Even without VRs, but with a Walmart in close proximity, one could buy GCs from the supermarket or drugstore and just load it there with the pin #.

 

 


I still think it depends on the type of card.  For simple cash-back (to avoid worrying about valuation of points), with a 1% card, the $3.95 VR fee eats up a lot of the $5 savings on a $500 purchase.  With Serve, you keep all the savings.   And buying GCs for Bluebird is worse, with their fee of  $4.95 or $5.95.

Message 37 of 43
Open123
Super Contributor

Re: Bill Pay w/Credit Card Do You or Don't You


@longtimelurker wrote:

@Open123 wrote:

@longtimelurker wrote:

Just to give a little more detail on Bluebird (which I mainly use for 5x TYP abuse rather than bill-pay, but still).  As Open says, you (may be able to buy) Vanilla Reloads with a reward card, for a fee of $3.95 for up to $500.   You don't have to go to Walmart, you can load your bluebird online, for free, 


If one has VRs available for purchase with a CC, Bluebird is clearly the better option.  Even without VRs, but with a Walmart in close proximity, one could buy GCs from the supermarket or drugstore and just load it there with the pin #.

 

 


I still think it depends on the type of card.  For simple cash-back (to avoid worrying about valuation of points), with a 1% card, the $3.95 VR fee eats up a lot of the $5 savings on a $500 purchase.  With Serve, you keep all the savings.   And buying GCs for Bluebird is worse, with their fee of  $4.95 or $5.95.


Right, I wouldn't use any card other than the bonus supermarket/grocery ones.  The return is too marginal, unless one absolutely had to meet the spend; and, even then, it'd be better with amzn.

Message 38 of 43
recordaras
Valued Member

Re: Bill Pay w/Credit Card Do You or Don't You

I've actually given this a lot of thought - I currently pay gas and electricity with a debit card (National Grid wants $2.25 per payment witha CC), but the one that really kills me is the $300+/month I pay the dog walker with a check. Everything else (Comcast, Verizon, various subscriptions) goes on the credit card.

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Message 39 of 43
Kutuzov
Frequent Contributor

Re: Bill Pay w/Credit Card Do You or Don't You

I do autopay with all I can and they pay the cc. It's easy instead of having to do 4-5 payments I just do 1, and get rewards! and with the convinense that I can pay anytime of the month instead on a certain date, so it's a win win. Right now I use my only cc a barclay rewards that nets me a 2% cash back on bill payment. I do need a second cc for daily use and just one for autopay.

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Message 40 of 43
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