Paying bills with CCs or LOC with rewards?

Anonymous · ‎12-01-2014

I use my rewards cards for almost all my bills. But there are a few bills that require a bank account for payment every time (rent, utilities, etc). It'd be nice to push that extra 3-4k monthly spend through my CC or some sort of Checking LOC that provides rewards (if that exists). I'm pretty much missing out on $350-$700 cash back per year by using my bank accounts for these bils.

Anyone have tips on how I can somehow pay bills that require a bank account with my credit card (i.e. some sort of bank account spoofing service that provides a routing + account # but really uses your CC)....OR with some sort of Checking LOC that provides rewards?

Unfortunately, I'm gardening and have no desire to do more apping. So the CC route would be ideal, although I'm open to compromising if it means making that much more money back.

Anonymous · ‎12-01-2014

Simplest currently are the Amex products, Serve (which can be loaded online with a credit card for $1K per month, or $1.5K per month with whatever ISIS is called today) and Target Redcard Prepaid, which can be loaded at Target with a cc for $5K a month. Once the money is on the cards, they have bill pay featuers which can be used to pay anyone.

ETA: Neither of these require a credit check, so on inquiries. They don't generate new TLs either, so gardening remains!

The Target card is only purchasable in certain states at present (though once you have it it works everywhere, except NC where they are having problems)

sunkissed · ‎12-01-2014

If you have Discover, you may want to check out Evolve Money http://www.evolvemoney.com/

It's free to use (no fees).

Anonymous · ‎12-01-2014

@Anonymous wrote:
I use my rewards cards for almost all my bills. But there are a few bills that require a bank account for payment every time (rent, utilities, etc). It'd be nice to push that extra 3-4k monthly spend through my CC or some sort of Checking LOC that provides rewards (if that exists). I'm pretty much missing out on $350-$700 cash back per year by using my bank accounts for these bils.

Anyone have tips on how I can somehow pay bills that require a bank account with my credit card (i.e. some sort of bank account spoofing service that provides a routing + account # but really uses your CC)....OR with some sort of Checking LOC that provides rewards?

Unfortunately, I'm gardening and have no desire to do more apping. So the CC route would be ideal, although I'm open to compromising if it means making that much more money back.

Another way to pay your bills is to use www. chargesmart.com. You can pay your bills with a credit card to companies with a small fee.

Anonymous · ‎12-01-2014

@sunkissed wrote:
If you have Discover, you may want to check out Evolve Money http://www.evolvemoney.com/

It's free to use (no fees).

+1 Forgot that they have just started taking discover, and plan V/MC next year. Not clear if it can really make money!

Anonymous · ‎12-01-2014

@yesi-ts-me wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I use my rewards cards for almost all my bills. But there are a few bills that require a bank account for payment every time (rent, utilities, etc). It'd be nice to push that extra 3-4k monthly spend through my CC or some sort of Checking LOC that provides rewards (if that exists). I'm pretty much missing out on $350-$700 cash back per year by using my bank accounts for these bils.

Anyone have tips on how I can somehow pay bills that require a bank account with my credit card (i.e. some sort of bank account spoofing service that provides a routing + account # but really uses your CC)....OR with some sort of Checking LOC that provides rewards?

Unfortunately, I'm gardening and have no desire to do more apping. So the CC route would be ideal, although I'm open to compromising if it means making that much more money back.
Another way to pay your bills is to use www. chargesmart.com. You can pay your bills with a credit card to companies with a small fee.

Generally ruins the point, fees outweigh rewards

mongstradamus · ‎12-01-2014

@Anonymous wrote:
@yesi-ts-me wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I use my rewards cards for almost all my bills. But there are a few bills that require a bank account for payment every time (rent, utilities, etc). It'd be nice to push that extra 3-4k monthly spend through my CC or some sort of Checking LOC that provides rewards (if that exists). I'm pretty much missing out on $350-$700 cash back per year by using my bank accounts for these bils.

Anyone have tips on how I can somehow pay bills that require a bank account with my credit card (i.e. some sort of bank account spoofing service that provides a routing + account # but really uses your CC)....OR with some sort of Checking LOC that provides rewards?

Unfortunately, I'm gardening and have no desire to do more apping. So the CC route would be ideal, although I'm open to compromising if it means making that much more money back.
Another way to pay your bills is to use www. chargesmart.com. You can pay your bills with a credit card to companies with a small fee.
Generally ruins the point, fees outweigh rewards

Its only worth it if you are trying to meet min spend on an card for big signup bonus imo

EX Fico 804 11/16/16 Fako 800 Credit.com 11/16/16
EQ SW bank enhanced 11/16/16 839 CK fako 822 11/16/16
TU Fico discover 10/19/16 814 Fako 819 Creditkarma 11/16/16

Anonymous · ‎12-01-2014

Thanks for the responses!

It sounds like Target Debit is my best bet, considering I need to push more than 1.5k spend through the card each month. The fees would definitely elminate the incentive, considering I'm trying to come up on the rewards. I'm in California so it looks like the Target Debit is available here.

I don't own a Discover card, but that might be the more elegant solution when I'm out of the garden - because having a Target card just doesn't sound as cool

So just to confirm, when I load $$$ into the Target Debit with my Rewards CC, this is the action that the CC would see as a purchase, correct? In other words, I would get my CC rewards just by filling the Target card up with money using my CC?

And then from there I use the Target Debit bill pay options?

Anonymous · ‎12-01-2014

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the responses!

It sounds like Target Debit is my best bet, considering I need to push more than 1.5k spend through the card each month. The fees would definitely elminate the incentive, considering I'm trying to come up on the rewards. I'm in California so it looks like the Target Debit is available here.

I don't own a Discover card, but that might be the more elegant solution when I'm out of the garden - because having a Target card just doesn't sound as cool

So just to confirm, when I load $$$ into the Target Debit with my Rewards CC, this is the action that the CC would see as a purchase, correct? In other words, I would get my CC rewards just by filling the Target card up with money using my CC?

And then from there I use the Target Debit bill pay options?

Yes, except it;s not Target Debit. Since we wouldn't want the world to be a simple place, Target has a range of cards that look identical. The card you need is Target Prepaid, see https://amex.serve.com/prepaidredcard/faqs/, which also lists where you can get it. For those with no available locations, some are buying them from eBay, although I personally wouldn't!

It is actually a great card, fee-free ATM access on a big network, and 5% off target purchases.

Anonymous · ‎12-01-2014

Ahhh, crap. Yeah so they don't have any retailers in Cali that provide the card. But they do have a few retailers in Colorado. My sister in law lives up there so maybe I can get her to pick one up for me.