How to turbocharge cash back on any Citi CC

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

There's a fairly simple way you may be able to turbocharge your cash back on any Citi CC, but it requires a debit card that gives you cash back.  I say "may" because I haven't confirmed that it'll work yet.  Citi allows you to pay your CC balance a using debit card.  You just have to call the number on the back of your card and follow the prompts for paying with debit card.  I'm doing a test drive this month using the Affinity FCU Cash Back Debit card.  This card gives 1% cash back on spends up to $1,000 per month.  I can report back at the end of the month whether it worked. 

[Anonymous]

Don't count on it:

Earn 1% Cash Back on up to $1,000 in debit card purchases (point of sale purchases can be either a PIN or signature debit card purchase, including online transactions) each month. Up to $120 cash back per year maximum. Cash back earned each month will be credited to your Affinity Cash Back Debit Account by the next month’s statement cycle. ATM transactions, the purchase of money orders or cash equivalents, loan payments and account funding made with your debit card are not eligible for cash back rewards.

Taken from Affinity's website: http://cloud.connect.affinityfcu.com/cashback

Every cash back debit card I've seen has this exclusion.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Don't count on it:

Earn 1% Cash Back on up to $1,000 in debit card purchases (point of sale purchases can be either a PIN or signature debit card purchase, including online transactions) each month. Up to $120 cash back per year maximum. Cash back earned each month will be credited to your Affinity Cash Back Debit Account by the next month’s statement cycle. ATM transactions, the purchase of money orders or cash equivalents, loan payments and account funding made with your debit card are not eligible for cash back rewards.

Taken from Affinity's website: http://cloud.connect.affinityfcu.com/cashback

Every cash back debit card I've seen has this exclusion.

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I didn't see that.  Seems pretty conclusive that it won't work.

As a general question, how do banks know that it's a loan payment?  Is it by the Merchant Category Code (MCC)?

[FinStar]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Don't count on it:

Earn 1% Cash Back on up to $1,000 in debit card purchases (point of sale purchases can be either a PIN or signature debit card purchase, including online transactions) each month. Up to $120 cash back per year maximum. Cash back earned each month will be credited to your Affinity Cash Back Debit Account by the next month’s statement cycle. ATM transactions, the purchase of money orders or cash equivalents, loan payments and account funding made with your debit card are not eligible for cash back rewards.

Taken from Affinity's website: http://cloud.connect.affinityfcu.com/cashback

Every cash back debit card I've seen has this exclusion.

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I didn't see that.  Seems pretty conclusive that it won't work.

As a general question, how do banks know that it's a loan payment?  Is it by the Merchant Category Code (MCC)?

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Transaction type, not MCC.

[Anonymous]

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@FinStar wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Don't count on it:

Earn 1% Cash Back on up to $1,000 in debit card purchases (point of sale purchases can be either a PIN or signature debit card purchase, including online transactions) each month. Up to $120 cash back per year maximum. Cash back earned each month will be credited to your Affinity Cash Back Debit Account by the next month’s statement cycle. ATM transactions, the purchase of money orders or cash equivalents, loan payments and account funding made with your debit card are not eligible for cash back rewards.

Taken from Affinity's website: http://cloud.connect.affinityfcu.com/cashback

Every cash back debit card I've seen has this exclusion.

---

I didn't see that.  Seems pretty conclusive that it won't work.

As a general question, how do banks know that it's a loan payment?  Is it by the Merchant Category Code (MCC)?

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Transaction type, not MCC.

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Is there a way to check the transaction type?  All of my debit card transactions look similar on the checking account online register.

POS WD VENDOR

e.g.

POS WD AMAZON ---> Gift card purchase
POS WD CITI ---> Credit card payment

POS WD CASHAPP ---> Add Cash to Cash App

[Sspartan]

Please keep us updated if you get the 1% for the citi payment. I have the same cash back debit account and would love to know. 

[longtimelurker]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Is there a way to check the transaction type?  All of my debit card transactions look similar on the checking account online register.

POS WD VENDOR

e.g.

POS WD AMAZON ---> Gift card purchase
POS WD CITI ---> Credit card payment

POS WD CASHAPP ---> Add Cash to Cash App

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Did you get rewards for adding to cash app (or still waiting to see?)

[Anonymous]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Is there a way to check the transaction type?  All of my debit card transactions look similar on the checking account online register.

POS WD VENDOR

e.g.

POS WD AMAZON ---> Gift card purchase
POS WD CITI ---> Credit card payment

POS WD CASHAPP ---> Add Cash to Cash App

---

Did you get rewards for adding to cash app (or still waiting to see?)

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Still waiting.  It's a new account.

[longtimelurker]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Is there a way to check the transaction type?  All of my debit card transactions look similar on the checking account online register.

POS WD VENDOR

e.g.

POS WD AMAZON ---> Gift card purchase
POS WD CITI ---> Credit card payment

POS WD CASHAPP ---> Add Cash to Cash App

---

Did you get rewards for adding to cash app (or still waiting to see?)

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Still waiting.  It's a new account.

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Looks similar on mine, a non-rewards debit used for rewards checking:

Point Of Sale Withdrawal CASH	CASH APP*LONG TIME LURKER  CA US
Point Of Sale Withdrawal CASH	AMAZON.COM*AMZN.COM/BIL WA US
Point Of Sale Withdrawal CASH	BLUEBIRD.COM  GA US

[batsy71]

> I'm doing a test drive this month using the Affinity FCU Cash Back Debit card.  This card gives 1% cash back on spends up to $1,000 per month.  I can report back at the end of the month whether it worked. 

> 1% cash back on spends up to $1,000 per month

That's 10$/month. Most of these are Kasasa cash back schemes. There are kasasa credit unions that give 12$/month such as School Systems FCU, ASE Credit Union. There is a credit union in Utah (can't remember its name) that gives 20$/month cash back on debit card purchases.