Paying Rent with CC to Earn Rewards - Which is Best?

[grower1]

Hello,

My community has recently offered the ability to pay rent via credit card. I have been paying it for about 3 years using my bank account - ($2200 per month). I was wondering which of my cards would earn the best points or rewards if I used it for rent. I would like to earn for this bill and put more spend through my card. I would PIF as soon as the charges appear. Is one card better than the other or are they all about the same?

Current Cards:

Discover IT

Amex Blue Cash Everyday

Barclay's Rewards Mastercard

Capitol One Platinum

Capitol One Quick Silver

Chase Freedom

Chase Slate - No Rewards

Victoria's Secret - Not eligible lol

Thanks for your opinions!

[Anonymous]

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@grower1 wrote:

Hello,

My community has recently offered the ability to pay rent via credit card. I have been paying it for about 3 years using my bank account - ($2200 per month). I was wondering which of my cards would earn the best points or rewards if I used it for rent. I would like to earn for this bill and put more spend through my card. I would PIF as soon as the charges appear. Is one card better than the other or are they all about the same?

Current Cards:

Discover IT

Amex Blue Cash Everyday

Barclay's Rewards Mastercard

Capitol One Platinum

Capitol One Quick Silver

Chase Freedom

Chase Slate - No Rewards

Victoria's Secret - Not eligible lol

Thanks for your opinions!

---

Does the landlord charge a fee? I would go with the citi double cash or open a new discover it miles to get 2-3% back in the first year. Or open the American Express Platinum(Charles Schwab) you can cash out the 60k sign up bonus for $750 if you have a schwab brokerage. Lots to consider, but think abut added processing fee vs standard rewards.

[EAJuggalo]

I don't know the rewards structure of the Barclay's but of the others listed the Quicksilver with 1.5% would be your best choice.  The IT, BCE, Freedom are all 1% for non-category spend.  

[grower1]

Thank you. A lot to consider indeed. I don't see any mention of fees in the fine print. It looks like the payment portal is powered by Wells Fargo. I don't have a Schwab brokerage account. However, I have pre-approvals for the standard Amex Platinum and Citi Double Cash. 

Also my Discover IT card is new, the 1st statement hasn't cut yet. I've run 175 through it and PIF. I'm not savvy with utilizing my points but I'm trying to learn more. The Discover IT offer says - Cashback Match™: We'll match all the Cashback Bonus you earn between now and Apr 24, 2019, dollar for dollar. I'm assuming this would be similar to the Citi Double Cash rewards but only for 1 year?

All other cards are too old to qualify for a sign on bonus. 

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

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@grower1 wrote:

Hello,

My community has recently offered the ability to pay rent via credit card. I have been paying it for about 3 years using my bank account - ($2200 per month). I was wondering which of my cards would earn the best points or rewards if I used it for rent. I would like to earn for this bill and put more spend through my card. I would PIF as soon as the charges appear. Is one card better than the other or are they all about the same?

Current Cards:

Discover IT

Amex Blue Cash Everyday

Barclay's Rewards Mastercard

Capitol One Platinum

Capitol One Quick Silver

Chase Freedom

Chase Slate - No Rewards

Victoria's Secret - Not eligible lol

Thanks for your opinions!

---

Right off the bat, take out platinum, slate, and vs since there's no rewards.

Discover and Barclays equate to $22 a month with Barclay requiring you to redeem in multiples of $10.

Freedom and amex require redemption through their sites. Both equate to $22 unless your rent falls into one of their categories somehow. At that point, chase limits you to $1500 or $75. Amex would be $44.

Qs will give you $33 cash every month.

[Anonymous]

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@grower1 wrote:

Thank you. A lot to consider indeed. I don't see any mention of fees in the fine print. It looks like the payment portal is powered by Wells Fargo. I don't have a Schwab brokerage account. However, I have pre-approvals for the standard Amex Platinum and Citi Double Cash. 

Also my Discover IT card is new, the 1st statement hasn't cut yet. I've run 175 through it and PIF. I'm not savvy with utilizing my points but I'm trying to learn more. The Discover IT offer says - Cashback Match™: We'll match all the Cashback Bonus you earn between now and Apr 24, 2019, dollar for dollar. I'm assuming this would be similar to the Citi Double Cash rewards but only for 1 year?

All other cards are too old to qualify for a sign on bonus. 

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With Discover, if you are in your first year, this equates to the 2% of Citi Double cash. The Platimum of American express makes sense if you are going to travel, but if this is for cash back, there are a few cards where you can hit $500 back for this minimum spend (citi premier, chase sapphire preferred, chase INK). Does the land lord cash advance your card to pay rent? That may negate the purchases as well. You have options, moreover, if there is no fee, any rewards or cash back is better than paying cash (extra interest or return earned on the cash). I wish I could pay my mortage easily with credit card without a fee.

[Kforce]

Check the fine print, because most mortgage/rent payment systems have a fee attached usually 3-5%.  Try a couple of payments with the QS and make sure no strings are attached before applying for a new card.

1.5% = 2200*0.015*12 = 396/yr

2%    = 2200*0.020*12 = 528/yr

[Anonymous]

I pay my rent with an Alliant card (unless I'm churning a new card).

3% back first year.  The fee is 2% so it backs out well.

[NRB525]

Rather than just looking at the fine print, call the property manager and ask them whether a fee will be charged for using a credit card.

If they are just adding the credit card service recently, I am nearly 100% certain there will be a fee.

The first time you try to pay with a credit card, it should be obvious, so allow time to back track to use your checking account and not get late fees on the rent payment.

[Streetervillelady]

NRB525 is correct.  I would be very surprised if you don't find that a service fee will be charged for credit card transactions at the time of payment. These fees are usually equal to a percentage of your total payment. YMMV, but AMEX will be the highest.  About 3% versus Visa and MC at 2.5%.