CSP questions

[creditfan]

sorry I'm still confused

so is it better off to use it or not use it

[Revelate]

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@creditfan wrote:

sorry I'm still confused

so is it better off to use it or not use it

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If the spend bonus plus the base 1% rewards on the transaction is worth more than the service fee that you have to pay, then yes it's worth using.  If it's not, you're throwing money away.

[toppers555]

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@Revelate wrote:

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@creditfan wrote:

sorry for hijack the thread

@Anonymous

is chargesmart.com a secure site? are there any fee and/or hidden fee come with it

thanks

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There is always a merchant transaction fee: basically these sites pass that on to you with some markup which is how they make their revenue.  It's basically a convenience fee and I not certain there's any (I'm sure there's a couple, flat 2% or 3% might get you above) which aren't higher than the rewards on the cards themselves which you get back.

CSP side it's guarunteed to fall into the 1% category, so you will be spending more, but sometimes that's worthwhile.  I basically bought my Amex CLI by paying my UCLA tuition with it to bump spending for a month, and I'd do it again too as the convenience surcharge difference from the 1% reward, was trivial in comparison to my chasing the 3X CLI.

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 That how I meet my 6k requirement with Blue cash to activate the 5%. Now I need to figure out something for next year or sd the card. 

Edit: fixed the quoting

[Anonymous]

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@Revelate wrote:

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@creditfan wrote:

sorry I'm still confused

so is it better off to use it or not use it

---

If the spend bonus plus the base 1% rewards on the transaction is worth more than the service fee that you have to pay, then yes it's worth using.  If it's not, you're throwing money away.

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And in the case of the CSP, you usually need to spend say $3k ($2k if applied at a branch)  In return for spending $3K, you get $400 (assuming you use the worst option, cash back) + $30 back in 1% reward, for a total of $430.  If you put the whole $3K on Chargesmart, it costs less than 3% = $90, so from that point of view it is worth it.  (The precise cost varies by payee and amount, so for example a $2500 mortgage payment had a fee of around $65)

But I think the real question is, can you meet the minimum spend without doing this in the required time.   So if your normal spend gets you there in 3 months, no need to waste the $90.  If there is no way you can do this, it's worth doing to get the bonus.  Another case is where you need the miles for a trip that's coming soon, and this is a way of quickly reaching the bonus spend.

But in any of these cases, do as much of your normal spend, and minimize the amount you put on chargesmart.

And just to be clear again, this is usually not worthwhile to do routinely once you have reached minimum spend, the costs outweigh rewards (unless you reliably value UR at more than 2.7c per point)