Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is happening now! Follow us as Greg, Nick, and Stephen compete to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines before November 23rd. Who will complete the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
The Offer
Schedule at least 6 rent or mortgage payments with your MasterCard, by September 30, and lock in a 1.75% rate (.25% lower than normal) on those payments.
How It Works
1. Schedule 6 or more payments, as far into the future as you’d like.
2. Make sure those payments are for rent or mortgage.
3. Use your MasterCard.
4. Do it before September 30, 2016, 11:59 p.m. PT.
You can find the full terms here.
| Name / Link | Offer | Frequent Miler Notes: |
|---|---|---|
| Plastiq | When you sign up for Plastiq (which lets you pay bills via credit card) with my link, you'll get $200 worth of fee free payments and I'll get $400 worth of fee free payments after you make a payment of at least $20 | Plastiq makes it possible to pay mortgage, rent, and many other bills via credit card. The usual credit card fee is 2.5%, but they often run lower-fee promotions. |
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[…] Pay Your Mortgage with Plastiq for 1.75% […]
You can use the following link to register Plastiq and get $200 fee free dollars
Off topic, but if you do Plastiq to unload VGC/MGC/AGC it sends all these small checks. Anyone know a way to get them to combine them? Even from there perspective if you’re paying the same person wouldn’t it benefit them to mail 1 large check vs lots of little ones? Do you know if that’s possible?
I don’t think there is any way, but I’d be happy to be proven wrong
Interesting promotion. Yet about the requirement to schedule into the future, how will this work if you have a mortgage payment that fluctuates from month to month? (My loan is keyed to the declining mortgage balance and # of days in each month — as such, the amount due can vary $10-15 each month – and that’s separate from any interest rate changes. Can that be scheduled, or is the promo only for “fixed” amounts into the future?)
Also, what happens if you happen to close a card during the 6 months? Can you substitute w/ another M/C? (happens I have a BA/Amtrak M/C that I likely will downgrade at year end)
I believe you’ll have to pick a single fixed amount.
I’m not 100% sure what happens if you change to a different credit card, but I know that Plastiq has told me during past promotions that editing the recurring payment will cause it to reprice the fee at whatever the current going rate is. So, I think that you won’t be able to change the card after September 30th.
Any idea how long will the promotion last?
4. Do it before September 30, 2016, 11:59 p.m. PT.
I’m still confused, even with the comments. Can you clarify please? Do you get the points credits for charging these monthly payments? As @Ryan suggests, does the $200 fee credit go towards his $26 fee, until he runs out at month 7? Thanks!
i think $200 credit means your total fees ($26) is reduced by $200 * 0.175 = 3.50 like Secretary Toaster said.
Another way to think about it is as follows:
If you have $200 in fee free payments, then you can make one $200 payment without paying any fees.
If, instead, you make a $500 payment, then $200 of that payment would be fee free and you would pay fees only on the remaining $300
Shawn,
So if I use your link to sign up, I will get a $200 worth of fee payment. This would put this deal pretty sweet. My mortgage is $1500x 1.75%= $26 in fees, but I will have $200 to offset this amount. Is this correct? I will pay rent and use up my $200 in 7 months and stop.
A potential 2% cashback on mortgage payment.
Nope. $200 * .0175 = $3.50
I don’t get it; is there any way to make this into a points-earning proposition? If not, why do I want to pay the 1.75% charge (even if it’s normally 2%)?
perhaps if you are trying to hit a big sign up bonus and are willing to “pay” 1.75% for the bonus and the ~1% rewards, its not too complicated or costly. Otherwise, I don’t know any category bonuses or 2% mastercards that make this attractive from a sustainable perspective
The Citi Double Cash card is a mastercard, FWIW.
Why? Because he gets $400 in fee-free payments if you’re that stupid and use his link.
As Noah wrote, this is ideal for situations where you need to meet minimum spend requirements. Personally I much prefer to pay a small fee to meet minimum spend requirements easily than to run around buying and liquidating gift cards as many people do.
Can also be good for:
1. Retention offers (e.g. Citi sometimes offers 2 extra points per dollar)
2. Big spend bonuses. Some credit cards offer bonuses when you meet a spend threshold
3. Cards that offer very high everyday rewards. As SDO mentioned, the Citi Double Cash card gives 2% cash back, so this would be a slight money maker
4. Cards that offer qualifying category bonuses. The only one I know of that fits here is the AT&T Access More card which is known to give 3X for Plastiq rent and mortgage payments.
Greg:
I know in your Plastiq article that you mentioned ATT codes as 3X for business services, but NOT other services. So Rent & Mortgage Payment category is confirmed 3X? Is it any category but other? I am curious as this could be a long term money maker with 3X on many things. Thanks for your Lab Work!
I see the confusion. There’s a category in Plastiq called “Other Services” or something like that. That’s the one that I found does NOT code as 3X. I haven’t tested rent or mortgage but I’ve read in another blog (I forget which) that both did code as 3X
It should be 3 months – don’t they understand the credit cards’ time frame?! 🙂