How to Earn Rewards by Paying Mortgage

14

Separately, I posted How to Earn Rewards by Paying Rent.  There aren’t as many ways to earn rewards from paying your mortgage, but it is still possible.  Here’s a primer on the best ways to earn rewards from paying mortgage…

Pay Mortgage with a Credit Card via Plastiq

Plastiq is a bill payment service that allows paying many types of bills with a credit card for a fee (currently 2.35% for the Brex Card and 2.85% for all other cards). Unfortunately, only Mastercard and Discover credit cards can be used to pay your mortgage.  Worse, both Capital One and US Bank ban the use of their Mastercards to pay mortgage.  For all other Mastercard and Discover cards, though, you can use Plastiq to pay your mortgage and you will earn rewards as if it was a regular purchase — you will not incur cash advance fees.

More details about Plastiq can be found here: Complete guide to Plastiq credit card payments.

Earn rewards through welcome bonuses

Many banks offer huge bonuses when you sign up for a new card and meet the minimum spend requirements.  For example, it’s common to see an offer for 60,000 points or more after $4,000 spend in 3 months.  With these big welcome bonuses, it can be well worth paying Plastiq’s 2.85% fee in order to meet the minimum spend requirements by paying your mortgage via credit card.

The following list shows the best current welcome bonuses based on our estimate of first year value and limited to cards that (to the best of our knowledge) can be used to pay mortgage through Plastiq.  First year value estimates include the value of points or other rewards earned minus the first year annual fee and minus the “cost” of the minimum spend (for various reasons, we assume a 3% cost, which is very close to Plastiq’s 2.85% fee).  As you can see, rewards earned from welcome bonuses can be huge:

Card Offer and Review
Chase IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card
175K Points
175K points after $3K spend in 3 months

$99 Annual Fee

This card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (click here for details).

Recent better offer: None. This is the best we've seen.

Chase Freedom Flex
20K points + 5X grocery + 15 months 0% APR
Earn 20,000 points (worth $200 cash back) after spending $500 in the first 3 months + 5x Ultimate Rewards points on grocery purchases for 1st year (on up to $12K in purchases). 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 19.24% - 27.99%.

No Annual Fee

Be sure to select the card you want after clicking through. This card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (click here for details). Even though this card is marketed as a cash back card, it actually earns Ultimate Rewards points which are redeemable for 1 cent each, or can be combined with other Ultimate Rewards-earning cards to get even more value. This product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months.

Info about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy.

Alternate offer: Referral Offer:Earn 20,000 points (worth $200 cash back) after spending $500 in the first 3 months + 5x Ultimate Rewards points (worth 5% cash back) on gas purchases for 1st year (on up to $6K in purchases)

Recent better offer: 20K points + 5x grocery stores for the first year on up to $12K in qualifying purchases

FM Mini Review: Great for 5X and 3x categories and World Mastercard benefits. Excellent companion card to Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred.

JetBlue Business Card
70K Miles
60K bonus miles after spending $2K in first 90 days + additional 10K miles after one purchase is made on an employee card.

$99 Annual Fee

FM Mini Review: This card is almost identical to the JetBlue Plus card except that this one earns 2X at office supply stores rather than grocery stores. Both cards are great choices for JetBlue flyers.

AAdvantage® AviatorTM Business MasterCard®
70K Miles
60K bonus miles after spending $2K in first 90 days + additional 10K miles after one purchase is made on an employee card.

$95 Annual Fee

Info about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy.

Recent better offer: Expired 2/6/23: 80K miles + a $95 statement credit after $2K spend in first 90 days.

CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select World MasterCard
65K miles
65K after $4K spend in first 4 months

No Annual Fee First Year, Then $99

Recent better offer: 75K after $5K in the first 5 months (Expired 1/16/20)

FM Mini Review: This card usually has a great signup bonus, but if you're looking for a card to keep long term, you'll find better options.

Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite MasterCard

FM Mini Review: Excellent choice for a great signup bonus. Plus it offers the usual collection of perks for flying AA (free checked bag, priority boarding, etc.)

Chase IHG® Rewards Traveler Credit Card
80K Points
120K Points after $2K spend in 3 months

No Annual Fee

Click here to view details about a similar card: IHG Rewards Club Premier

Recent better offer: 120K after $2K spend (expired 7/4/22)

FM Mini Review: A good no annual fee card for anyone who values the 4th night free benefit.

Citi Premier Card
60K points
60K points after $4K spend in the first 3 months

$95 Annual Fee

FM Mini Review: Very strong earnings for spend. Excellent bonus categories. Points transferable to select airlines. Recommend pairing this card with Citi Double Cash and Citi Rewards+. Sadly, this travel card doesn't provide any travel protections.

Barclays JetBlue Plus Mastercard
60K Miles
60K miles after $1K spend and payment of the annual fee in 90 days

$99 Annual Fee

FM Mini Review: Frequent JetBlue travelers should seriously consider this card for its terrific perks. The combination of the 10% rebate on awards and the annual 5,000 point bonus make this card a keeper.

Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard
50K miles + 60XP points
50K miles after $2K in the first 90 days + 60XP points upon approval

$89 Annual Fee

Info about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy.

Alternate offer: Going through the steps to make a dummy booking at the Air France website may result in an offer that also includes a $100 statement credit.

Sonesta World Mastercard
65K points
60K points after $1K spend in 90 days plus 5K points for adding an authorized user

No Annual Fee First Year, Then $75

FM Mini Review: Best for those who stay often at Sonesta hotels

Ridgewood Savings Bank World Mastercard

FM Mini Review: This card offers a nice intro bonus. Earning an effective 3% on travel and dining isn't bad, but considering the annual fee in future years it isn't very compelling to keep this one. Note that they have a nearly-identical business card.

The Hawaiian Airlines® Business MasterCard® issued by Barclays
Up to 90K miles
50K Miles after $2K spend in 90 days plus 40K miles after $8K spend in 12 months

$99 Annual Fee

HSBC Premier World Mastercard® credit card

FM Mini Review: This card may be worth it for the welcome bonus and possibly for the annual rideshare benefit if you have an HSBC Premier checking account and can thus keep the card annual fee-free. Note that the points value is based on HSBC's stated value when redeemed for airfare via the HSBC portal.

Citi Custom Cash Card
20K Points
20K points after $1500 spend in the first 6 months

No Annual Fee

Recent better offer: Expired 9/13/22 - 20,000 points after $750 spend in first 3 months

FM Mini Review: This is a great card to have and hold for a single category where you spend no more than $500 per month as it represents an excellent return without rotating categories to track.

Citi Rewards+ Card
20K points
20K points after $1.5K spend in 3 months

No Annual Fee

FM Mini Review: 10% points rebate (up to 10K rebate per year) make this a great choice to pool with ThankYou Premier, Prestige, and/or Double Cash

Norwegian Cruise Line® World Mastercard®

FM Mini Review: Points are worth $0.01 each toward onboard credit or cruise purchase with Norwegian. Note that points expire 5 years after they are earned regardless of activity. This card offers very poor value for ongoing spend after meeting the welcome bonus requirements. Interestingly, it appears to be eligible for Bank of America Preferred Rewards, which would increase the bonus categories by as much as 75% for those with Bank of America's top-tier Platinum Honors.

Miami Marlins Credit Card

FM Mini Review: Points are worth $0.01 each toward a statement credit or 1.25c toward gift cards for Marlins gear, so this card could be a good deal for a Marlins fan. That is particularly true if you value some of the unique experiences offered by Home Run Rewards.

Citi AAdvantage® Executive World Elite MasterCard®

FM Mini Review: Excellent choice for those who need Admirals Club access (included for both the primary member and authorized users). Plus, it offers the usual collection of perks for flying AA (free checked bag, priority boarding, etc.).

Citi Shop Your Way Mastercard

FM Mini Review: Shop Your Way points are worth .85 cents each and can only be used towards specific gift cards and merchandise. But where this card shines is with its regular offers that start to appear after putting spend on the card, often giving 10-15x cash back or Thank You Points on various categories of purchases. It's a keeper because of it.

Upromise World MasterCard® issued by Barclays
$200 Cash back
$200 cash back after $500 spend in the first 90 days

No Annual Fee

FM Mini Review: This card could be decent for an easy cash back bonus, but there are much more rewarding options for ongoing everyday spend.

American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp Card
10K miles + $50
Earn 10K AA miles + $50 statement credit after $500 spend in 3 months

No Annual Fee

FM Mini Review: Not bad for grocery spend if you highly value AA miles

ABOC Platinum Rewards

FM Mini Review: A decent no-fee rotating category card with a respectable if not large welcome bonus.

AT&T Access Card

FM Mini Review: This card may be worth it for a welcome bonus, but it would be worth considering a product change to the Double Cash down the road..Unforunately, it seems it is no longer possible to product change to the AT&T Access More card.

Discover it® for Students
$50 + First Year Double + $20/year
Get $50 after first purchase. All cashback earned in first 12 months will be doubled including 5% earned in rotating categories. Plus, get $20 cash back each school year your GPA is 3.0 or higher for up to the next 5 years.

No Annual Fee

FM Mini Review: In my opinion this is the single best "starter card" for students. It offers great rewards and no annual fee.

Discover it Miles - Double Miles your first year
$100 + First Year Double
Get $100 after first purchase. All "miles" earned in first 12 months will be doubled. This makes this a 3% cash back card for the first year.

No Annual Fee

FM Mini Review: Great card to get for its first year 3% cash back.

The Comenity® Mastercard® Credit Card

FM Mini Review: Possibly worthwhile for a low-spender looking for an easily-attainable welcome bonus.

Brex Cash
10K Points
Get 10,000 points when you spend $3,000 on your Brex card within the first 3 months

No Annual Fee

FM Mini Review: If you have a qualifying business, it's a no-brainer to sign up for this fee-free account.

AT&T Points Plus Card

FM Mini Review: This has a good gas station bonus for a no annual fee card, but there's not much else to make it a compelling card

Allegiant World Mastercard® Credit Card
15K miles
15K after $1K in first 90 days

$59 Annual Fee

Info about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy.

Alternate offer: You may be targeted for an offer including a $100 statement credit during a dummy booking.

FM Mini Review: Points are worth $0.01 each toward airfare and do not expire unless you cancel the card. If you cancel the card, you forfeit all points. Between that policy and the annual fee, this card probably isn't worth it in most scenarios.

Discover it®
$50 + First Year Double
Get $50 after first purchase. All cashback earned in first 12 months will be doubled including 5% earned in rotating categories.

No Annual Fee

FM Mini Review: This is a great choice for its rotating 5% categories

Liverpool FC Credit Card

FM Mini Review: Points are worth $0.01 each, so the welcome bonus and ongoing rewards in bonus categories are respectable for a card with no annual fee.

Cleveland Cavaliers Credit Card

FM Mini Review: Points are worth $0.01 each, so the welcome bonus and ongoing rewards in bonus categories are respectable for a card with no annual fee.

New Orleans Pelicans Credit Card

FM Mini Review: Points are worth $0.01 each toward a statement credit or 1.25c toward Fanatics gift cards, so this card could be a good deal for its bonus categories.

Manchester United Credit Card

FM Mini Review: Points are worth $0.01 each, so the welcome bonus and ongoing rewards in bonus categories are respectable for a card with no annual fee.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard® credit card
50K points
50K after $4K spend in 3 months

$395 Annual Fee

FM Mini Review: Points are worth 1.5c each when redeemed for airfare through the HSBC portal. Could be worthwhile for a welcome bonus, but not rewarding enough to justify keeping beyond the first year.

Marvel MasterCard from Synchrony

FM Mini Review: Good option if used only in 3% categories (e.g. dining and entertainment)

Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard®

Recent better offer: None. This is the best we've seen.

SEFCU Lightning Credit Card®

FM Mini Review: The terms note that you will "* Earn 5x points on online purchases through January 31, 2021 and 3x points on first $1,250 of grocery purchases per quarter. " YMMV as to whether the 5x online category is capped at $1250. If it is indeed capped, this card wouldn't make much sense given its lack of a welcome bonus.

SoFi Credit Card
3% cash back + $50-$250 bonus
$50-250 + 3% cash back on up to $12,000 for one year after being approved for a credit card and setting up a direct deposit within the first 25 days ($50 bonus for deposits under $5,000; $250 for direct deposits of $5000+)

No Annual Fee

FM Mini Review: This card could be a good option for someone looking for a 2% cash back Mastercard, though keep in mind that the Citi DoubleCash is a competitor that earns at the same rate while offering points which could become transferable to airline partners, whereas the SoFi credit card only earns cash back rewards.

Discover it Business - Double cash back your first year

FM Mini Review: Great card to get for its first year 3% cash back.

Citi Double Cash Card
None
This card does not currently feature an introductory bonus.

No Annual Fee

Recent better offer: 20K points after $1.5K in the first 3 months

FM Mini Review: 2X rewards for all spend with no annual fee makes this card a winner. Earn 2X everywhere and redeem for the equivalent of 2% cash back or 2X ThankYou points. Pair with the Premier or Prestige card to make points transferrable to airlines.

Citi Rewards+ Student Card
None
This card is not currently available to new applicants.

No Annual Fee

FM Mini Review: 10% points rebate (up to 10K rebate per year) make this a great choice to pool with ThankYou Premier, Prestige, and/or Double Cash

Citi Preferred Card

FM Mini Review: Downgrade from Prestige or Premier to this card in order to keep points alive

Huntington Voice

FM Mini Review: With most of this card's category bonuses, you can do better with other cards. If you do find a useful category and max out the $2K spend each quarter, you'll come out only $80 ahead per year compared to using a 2% cash back card.

Santander® Ultimate
Cash Back® credit card

FM Mini Review: While the headline is 3% back for a year, the bonus itself is an extra 1.5% back on up to $20K in purchases for the first year. That's certainly not a bad return on otherwise unbonused spend, but many other cards on the market that offer even moderately good welcome bonuses offer greater net return with significantly less spend.

Bilt Mastercard
None
This card features no welcome bonus, but it offers the chance to earn 1x points when paying rent (on up to $50K per year in rent payments) with no annual fee.

No Annual Fee

FM Mini Review: If you pay rent and haven't been earning rewards, this card is a no-brainer as you can pay your rent and earn rewards with no fee. A surprisingly good set of transfer partners makes the rewards for using this for rent worth getting the card for that main purpose alone (as long as you remember to use the card 5 times per month).

JAL USA CARD

FM Mini Review: This card offers a poor earning structure of just 1 mile per dollar and a very weak bonus compared to required spend that it just isn't worth it.

Chase IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card

FM Mini Review: Those free night certificates issued before 5/1/18 are redeemable at any IHG property, but those issued after 5/1/18 are restricted to properties up to 40K per night. For only $49 per year, this still a good card to keep, but not to use for spend

Barclays Arrival® Premier World Elite Mastercard®

FM Mini Review: This card is best for earning JAL miles, which can be very valuable. If you spend exactly $15K or $25K per year, you can earn an effective 1.76 Japan Airlines miles per dollar or 2.14 miles per dollar with other transfer partners. Points can alternatively be redeemed for 1 cent each towards travel.

AAdvantage® AviatorTM Silver World Elite MasterCard®

FM Mini Review: $25 per day of in-flight food & beverage credits is pretty interesting. If you fly AA enough to make good use of this, this card is well worthwhile.

Citi Prestige Card

FM Mini Review: The Prestige card's best in class 5X rewards for dining, airfare, and travel agencies is hard to beat. Sadly, this travel card doesn't provide any travel protections.

Earn spend bonuses: elite status, free nights, etc.

Many credit cards offer bonuses for meeting high spend thresholds. You can find a comprehensive list here: Best big spend bonuses.  Whether or not it makes sense paying Plastiq’s fee in order to reach these thresholds depends upon how much you value elite status or other rewards earned.

Here are a few examples of big spend bonuses available with Mastercard credit cards:

Earn rewards through spend

Not many cards earn rewards worth more than 2.85% when not considering welcome bonuses, bonus categories, or big-spend bonuses, but there are a few.  Based on our estimated point values (Reasonable Redemption Values), you can earn up to 3% with the right card.  That said, that’s such a small increment in value over Plastiq’s 2.85% fee that I wouldn’t recommend bothering with this unless you need the points for an even more valuable award.

The following table shows the cards that earn the best rewards for spend that is not within a bonus category.  The list is limited to cards that (to the best of our knowledge) can be used to pay mortgage through Plastiq.  If you press “next” often enough, you’ll find all matching cards in our database, but the first ones are those that offer the best rewards for everyday spend.

Card Info Name and Earning Rate (no offer)
Discover it Miles (First Year)
Base
3%
Earning rate: 1.5 miles per dollar for all spend. All Miles are doubled at the end of your first card membership year.
Citi Double Cash Card
Base
Earning rate: 2% cash back everywhere (1% cash back for each purchase + 1% when paying your credit card bill for that purchase)
BOA Business Advantage Travel Rewards World Mastercard (with Platinum Honors Preferred Rewards for Business)
Base
2.625X
(2.63%)
Travel
5.25X
(5.25%)
Earning rate: With Platinum Honors status with Bank of America's Business Advantage Relationship Rewards program, this card earns: 2.625X points for all spend (and 5.25X for travel purchased through BOA's travel center)
Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card (with Platinum Honors Preferred Rewards)
Base
2.625X
(2.63%)
Earning rate: 1.5% everywhere; Earn up to 2.625% back everywhere with Bank of America Platinum Honors status
Amtrak Guest Rewards Platinum Mastercard
Base
Dine
Brand
Earning rate: ⚬ 2X Amtrak ⚬ 2X dining ⚬ 1X elsewhere
Amtrak Guest Rewards® Preferred Mastercard®
Base
Travel
Dine
Brand
Earning rate: ⚬ 3X Amtrak ⚬ 2X qualifying travel, dining, transit, and rideshare ⚬ 1X elsewhere
Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard®
Base
Earning rate: 2X Miles on all purchases
Barclays Arrival® Premier World Elite Mastercard®
Base
Earning rate: 2X Miles on all purchases
SoFi Credit Card
Base
2%
Earning rate: 2X everywhere
Paypal Cashback Mastercard
Base
2%
Earning rate: 2% cash back everywhere
Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard
Base
Brand
Earning rate: 3X on Air France, KLM, and SkyTeam purchases ⚬ 1.5X everywhere else
Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard
Base
Brand
Earning rate: 3X Virgin Atlantic ⚬ 1.5X everywhere else
Chase IHG® Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
Base
Travel
Dine
Gas
Office
Brand
Earning rate: 10X IHG ⚬ 5X travel, gas stations, restaurants and dining, social media and search engine advertising, office supply stores ⚬ 3X on all other purchases
Chase IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card
Base
Travel
Dine
Gas
Brand
Earning rate: 10X IHG ⚬ 5X travel, dining, and gas stations ⚬ 3X on all other purchases
Citizens Bank Cash Back Plus® World Mastercard®
Base
1.8%
Dine
1.8%
Gas
1.8%
Other
1.8%
Earning rate: 1.8% back everywhere
Bank of America Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard (with Platinum Honors Preferred Rewards for Business)
Base
1.75%
Travel
5.25%
Dine
3.5%
Gas
5.25%
Phone
5.25%
Office
5.25%
Biz
5.25%
Earning rate: With Platinum Honors status with Bank of America's Business Advantage Relationship Rewards program, this card earns: 3.5% on dining plus 5.25% on 1 choice from: gas stations (default), office supply stores, travel, TV/telecom & wireless, computer services or business consulting services (for the first $50,000 in combined choice/dining purchases each calendar year, 1.75% thereafter) and 1.75% everywhere else.
Bilt Mastercard
Base
Travel
Dine
Other
Earning rate: Must use your card for 5 purchases per month, then: 3x Dining ⚬ 3x Lyft ⚬ 2x Travel ⚬ 1x rent (up to 50,000 points per year) ⚬ 1x everywhere else
Chase Freedom Flex
Base
Dine
Shop
Other
Earning rate: 5x travel booked through Chase ⚬ 5X Lyft through March 2025 ⚬ 3x dining ⚬ 3x drugstores ⚬ 5X in rotating categories on up to $1,500 spend per quarter.
Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card
Base
1.5X
(1.5%)
Earning rate: 1.5% everywhere; Earn up to 2.625% back everywhere with Bank of America Platinum Honors status. Note that you'll need Preferred Rewards on the business side ("Preferred Rewards for Business") to earn a greater return.
Discover it Business - Double cash back your first year
Base
1.5X
(1.5%)
Earning rate: 1.5% cash back for all spend.
BOA Business Advantage Travel Rewards World Mastercard
Base
1.5X
(1.5%)
Travel
Earning rate: 1.5X everywhere; 3X for travel booked through BOA's travel center
Santander® Ultimate
Cash Back® credit card
Base
1.5%
Earning rate: 1.5% everywhere
The Comenity® Mastercard® Credit Card
Base
1.5%
Earning rate: 1.5% everywhere
Discover it Miles - Double Miles your first year
Base
1.5%
Earning rate: 1.5 miles per dollar for all spend.
Barclaycard CashForward
Base
1.5%
Earning rate: 1.5% everywhere
Citi Business ThankYou Card
Base
Other
Earning rate: 3X rotating quarterly categories
Citi Prestige Card
Base
Travel
Dine
Earning rate: 5X airfare, dining, and travel agencies ⚬ 3X hotels and cruise line ⚬ 1X everywhere else
Citi Premier Card
Base
Travel
Dine
Gas
Grocery
Earning rate: 3X grocery ⚬ 3X dining ⚬ 3X gas stations ⚬ 3X flights, hotels, travel agencies
Citi Preferred Card
Base
Dine
Other
Earning rate: 2X dining and entertainment
Citi Rewards+ Card
Base
Gas
Grocery
Earning rate: 2X at supermarkets and gas stations on up to $6,000 per year ⚬ Round up to nearest 10 TY points on all purchases
Citi Rewards+ Student Card
Base
Gas
Grocery
Earning rate: 2X at supermarkets and gas stations on up to $6,000 per year ⚬ Round up to nearest 10 TY points on all purchases
AT&T Access More Card
Base
Travel
Shop
Brand
Earning rate: ⚬ 3 points per $1 on products and services that are purchased directly from AT&T ⚬ 3 points per $1 on all purchases at online retail and travel sites ⚬ 1 point per $1 on all other purchases
AT&T Access Card
Base
Travel
Shop
Brand
Earning rate: ⚬ 2 points per $1 on products and services that are purchased directly from AT&T ⚬ 2 points per $1 on all purchases at online retail and travel sites ⚬ 1 point per $1 on all other purchases
AT&T Points Plus Card
Base
Gas
Grocery
Earning rate: ⚬ 3 points per $1 at gas stations ⚬ 2 points per $1 oat grocery stores ⚬ 1 point per $1 on all other purchases
Citi Custom Cash Card
Base
Travel
Dine
Gas
Grocery
Other
Earning rate: 5x on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent, 1x thereafter. Eligible categories: Restaurants, Gas Stations, Grocery Stores, Select Travel, Select Transit, Select Streaming Services, Drugstores, Home Improvement Stores, Fitness Clubs and Live Entertainment. ⚬ 1x on all other purchases
Brex Cash
Base
Travel
Dine
Biz
Other
Earning rate: 8x Rideshare ⚬ 5x Brex Travel ⚬ 4x Restaurants ⚬ 3x on recurring software like Salesforce, Zendesk, Twilio, and more ⚬ 1x everywhere else
Barclays JetBlue Plus Mastercard
Base
Dine
Grocery
Brand
Earning rate: 2X restaurants and grocery ⚬ 6X JetBlue ⚬ 1X everywhere else
JetBlue Business Card
Base
Dine
Office
Brand
Earning rate: ⚬ 2X restaurants and office supply stores ⚬ 6X JetBlue ⚬ 1X everywhere else
JetBlue Card
Base
Dine
Grocery
Brand
Earning rate: ⚬ 2X restaurants and grocery ⚬ 3X JetBlue ⚬ 1X everywhere else⚬
AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite MasterCard
Base
Brand
Earning rate: ⚬ 2X AA ⚬ 1X everywhere else
AAdvantage® AviatorTM Business MasterCard®
Base
Travel
Phone
Office
Earning rate: ⚬ 2X AA, office supply, telecommunications services, and at car rental agencies ⚬ 1X everywhere else
Virgin Atlantic White Card
Base
Brand
Earning rate: ⚬ 3X Virgin Atlantic ⚬ 1X elsewhere
The Aeroplan® Card
Base
Dine
Grocery
Brand
Earning rate: 3X Air Canada ⚬ 3X grocery stores ⚬ 3X dining ⚬ 500 bonus points with each $2K calendar month spend, up to $6K spend per month
Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard
Base
Travel
Brand
Earning rate: 3X Emirates ⚬ 2X airfare, hotel, and car rentals ⚬ 1X everywhere else
AAdvantage® AviatorTM Silver World Elite MasterCard®
Base
Travel
Brand
Earning rate: ⚬ 3X AA ⚬ 2X hotel and car rentals ⚬ 1X everywhere else
Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard
Base
Travel
Brand
Earning rate: 3X Emirates ⚬ 2X airfare, hotel, and car rentals ⚬ 1X everywhere else
CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select World MasterCard
Base
Travel
Gas
Phone
Brand
Earning rate: ⚬ 2X AA ⚬ 2X certain telecommunications merchants ⚬ 2X car rental merchants ⚬ 2X gas
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite MasterCard
Base
Dine
Gas
Brand
Earning rate: 2X restaurants ⚬ 2X gas ⚬ 2X AA
JAL USA CARD
Base
Earning rate:
American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp Card
Base
Grocery
Brand
Earning rate: 2X grocery ⚬ 2X AA ⚬ 1X everywhere else
Chase IHG® Rewards Traveler Credit Card
Base
Dine
Gas
Phone
Brand
Other
Earning rate: ⚬ 5X IHG ⚬ 3x dining, gas stations utilities, cable, Internet, phone, and select streaming services ⚬ 2X everywhere else
Upromise World MasterCard® issued by Barclays
Base
1.25%
Earning rate: Earn 1.529% back on your purchases when your Upromise Program account is linked to an eligible College Savings Plan or 1.25% if it is not.
Best Western Rewards Premium MasterCard issued by First Bankcard
Base
Brand
Earning rate: 10X at Best Western properties ⚬ 2X elsewhere
Citi Shop Your Way Mastercard
Base
Dine
Gas
Grocery
Other
Earning rate: 5X gas ⚬ 3X grocery and dining ⚬ 2X Sears and KMart
Allegiant World Mastercard® Credit Card
Base
Dine
Brand
Earning rate: 3x Allegiant ⚬ 2x dining
Norwegian Cruise Line® World Mastercard®
Base
Travel
Brand
Earning rate: 3x Norwegian cruise line purchases ⚬ 2x air and hotel
HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard® credit card
Base
Travel
Dine
Earning rate: 3x travel (includes airlines, hotels, and car rentals) ⚬ 2x dining
HSBC Premier World Mastercard® credit card
Base
Travel
Earning rate: 2x travel (includes airlines, hotels, and car rentals)
Discover it®
Base
Gas
Other
Earning rate: 5X in rotating categories, up to $1500 spend per quarter.
Discover it® for Students
Base
Gas
Other
Earning rate: 5X in rotating categories, up to $1500 spend per quarter.
Barclays Arrival™ World MasterCard®
Base
Travel
Dine
Earning rate: ⚬ 2X Miles for travel and dining ⚬ 1X everywhere else
Huntington Voice
Base
1%
Travel
3%
Dine
3%
Gas
3%
Grocery
3%
Shop
3%
Office
3%
Biz
3%
Other
3%
Earning rate: 3% cash back on up to $2K in spend in the category you choose each quarter: gas stations, travel & entertainment, restaurants, discount & warehouse stores, grocery stores, utilities & office supply stores, electronics and computer and camera stores, department and apparel and sporting good stores, auto parts & service, and home improvement stores
New Orleans Pelicans Credit Card
Base
1%
Dine
4%
Gas
4%
Brand
4%
Other
4%
Earning rate: 4x gas ⚬ 4x bars, restaurants, and select food delivery services ⚬ 4x on Pelicans tickets ⚬ 10% statement credit for concessions purchases at Smoothie King Center and at the in-venue and online Pelicans team store
Miami Marlins Credit Card
Base
1%
Dine
3%
Brand
5%
Other
3%
Earning rate: 5x on Marlins tickets ⚬ 5% back on retail & concessions at IoanDepot Park ⚬ 3x on dining, food delivery, gas and drugstores ⚬ 1x on everything else
Liverpool FC Credit Card
Base
1%
Dine
3%
Brand
5%
Other
5%
Earning rate: 5x points on Liverpool FC merchandise at the Official Liverpool FC Store and on Liverpool FC ticket purchases, select rideshare and streaming services ⚬ 3x at bars, restaurants, and select delivery services ⚬ 1x everywhere else
Manchester United Credit Card
Base
1%
Dine
5%
Other
5%
Earning rate: 5x rideshare and streaming services ⚬ 5x bars and restaurants on match days ⚬ 1x everywhere else
Cleveland Cavaliers Credit Card
Base
1%
Dine
3%
Grocery
3%
Brand
5%
Earning rate: 5x Cavs season tickets and streaming services ⚬ 3x other Cavs tickets, dining, grocery, and delivery ⚬ 1x everywhere else
AARP® Travel Rewards Mastercard®
Base
1%
Travel
3%
Dine
2%
Earning rate: 3% airfare, hotel stays, and car rentals ⚬ 2% restaurants ⚬ 1% everywhere else
Marvel MasterCard from Synchrony
Base
1%
Brand
3%
Other
3%
Earning rate: ⚬ 3% cash back for dining, select entertainment, and Marvel purchases
(Select entertainment = Movie Theatres, Video Rental and Game Stores, Theatrical and Concert Promoters, Amusement Parks, Digital Entertainment, Games and Software, Music, Books and Newsstands, Toys and Hobby Stores)
SEFCU Lightning Credit Card®
Base
1%
Grocery
3%
Shop
5%
Earning rate: 5x online purchases until 1/31/21 ⚬ 3x grpcery on up to $1250 per quarter
Ridgewood Savings Bank World Mastercard
Base
1%
Travel
2%
Dine
3%
Earning rate: 3x travel & dining ⚬ 2x gas
AARP® Essential Rewards Mastercard®
Base
1%
Gas
3%
Other
3%
Earning rate: 3% drugstores and gas stations ⚬ 2% medical expenses ⚬ 1% everywhere else
ABOC Platinum Rewards
Base
1%
Dine
5%
Grocery
5%
Shop
5%
Other
5%
Earning rate: 5x in rotating categories, up to $1500 spend per quarter.
Citi Dividend Platinum Select
Base
1%
Grocery
5%
Other
5%
Earning rate: 5X on rotating categories each quarter. 5% limited to $6K spend per year.
Major League Baseball® BankAmericard Cash Rewards™ MasterCard® credit card
Base
1%
Travel
3%
Dine
3%
Gas
3%
Grocery
2%
Shop
3%
Other
3%
Earning rate: 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs and 3% on one category of your choice between gas, online shopping, dining, travel, drug stores, or home improvement/furnishings (can choose a new category monthly) up to the first $2,500 in combined 2% and 3% category purchases each quarter, then 1%.
Bank of America Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard
Base
1%
Travel
3%
Dine
2%
Gas
3%
Phone
3%
Office
3%
Biz
3%
Earning rate: 2% on dining plus 3% on 1 choice from: gas stations (default), office supply stores, travel, TV/telecom & wireless, computer services or business consulting services (for the first $50,000 in combined choice/dining purchases each calendar year, 1% thereafter) and 1% everywhere else.
Frontier Airlines World MasterCard®
Base
Dine
Brand
Earning rate: 5X at FlyFrontier.com ⚬ 3X restaurants
Sonesta World Mastercard
Base
Travel
Brand
Earning rate: 2X airfare, car rental and dining ⚬ 3X Sonesta
The Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite MasterCard® issued by Barclays
Base
Dine
Gas
Grocery
Brand
Earning rate: 3X Hawaiian Airlines ⚬ 2x gas, dining, and grocery stores ⚬ 1x everywhere else
The Hawaiian Airlines® Business MasterCard® issued by Barclays
Base
Dine
Gas
Office
Brand
Earning rate: 3X Hawaiian Airlines ⚬ 2x gas, dining, and office supply stores ⚬ 1x everywhere else
Citi® Expedia Rewards Credit Card
Base
Brand
Earning rate: 3X Expedia purchases
Citi® Expedia®+ Voyager Card
Base
Dine
Brand
Other
Earning rate: 4X Expedia purchases ⚬ 2x restaurants & entertainment
Chase IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card
Base
Dine
Gas
Grocery
Brand
Earning rate: ⚬ 5X IHG ⚬ 2X gas, grocery, and restaurants

Conclusion

It’s possible to earn huge rewards by regularly signing up for new credit cards and using your mortgage spend to earn welcome bonuses.  In some cases, even without a welcome bonus, it can make sense to pay Plastiq’s fees in order to earn “big-spend” bonuses such as elite status, free nights, companion tickets, etc.  I don’t usually recommend paying your mortgage through Plastiq without earning a welcome bonus or big spend bonus, but it can make sense at times.  For example, by using the Citi Double Cash card, you can earn 2 ThankYou points per dollar.  After Plastiq’s 2.85% fee, that’s like paying 1.425 cents per point.  That can make sense if you also have a Premier or Prestige card so that you can transfer points to loyalty programs in order to book high value rewards.

See also: How to Earn Rewards by Paying Rent.

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14 Comments
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Josh

So this is an article just about Plastiq? No creative tricks up the sleeve??

Jake

my mortgage company allows me to pay my mortgage via debit card with no fees (caliber). Could I use the Point Debit card to pay and earn 2%?

John

Sometimes earning points can be alot of work and effort that takes time and gas. Sometimes you can earn points in your sleep. I call paying my mortgage on the Double Cash through Plastiq pajama points because they automatically earn points each month. Yes, the fee of 2.9% stinks, but I consider that these points will earn way more than 2.9%. If my aggregate methods of earning points has some cheaper ways (Rakuten), and some more costly Plastiq, and some in between, then that is all part of the game.

Josh

At first reading the title, I thought there was a way to pay for mortgage with credit cards without fees.
I still haven’t given up hope…

value

This is very high cost to buy points or status. Unless you have a signup bonus that you just cannot meet the spending requirement, I think all other use case you are at loss.

jeph36

With a title like that, I was hoping Greg would have some big reveal for a lucrative approach to paying a mortgage. Even if it was convoluted, I would have considered it. I guess instead this serves as a confirmation of what I was already understanding to be the case. Other than the occasional school fee for the kids, I pay almost my entire life through CC … except mortgage. Oh well, at least I was able to refinance in late 2020 to well under 3%.

Is it possible to use Plastiq with MC prepaid GCs, which could then be drawn down to pay for mortgage?

Ezra

No plastiq doesn’t take prepaid debit, VC or MC. They banned it more than a year ago.

LarryInNYC

Curious as to whether anyone knows why there’s such hostility among the credit card issuers to using their cards to pay your mortgage? It seems like a legitimate use to me.

JoeSchmo

I’m guessing it’s due to a fear of the credit user failing to pay the balance and the CC issuer prob can’t get their money back from the home equity.

LarryInNYC

How is this different from any other charge you make on a credit card?

Biggie F

Yeah, it’s debt on debt … a bit like you taking out a second mortgage without any approved collaterilization (if that’s a word).

Reno Joe

Technically, the Visa network doesn’t prohibit using a Visa card to process a debt payment. But, the Visa network characterizes a debt payment as a cash-like transaction. As such, a person will not earn points and will be charged a cash advance fee. While it’s not prohibited, it’s impractical. I believe Amex has an outright prohibition.

To extend Greg’s concept, one could use a payment service to pay a car loan, a student loan . . . any kind of loan. It just needs to be on a Mastercard.

For those in business, there is an alternative to Plastiq. It’s called Melio Payments. Melio’s fees are roughly the same as Plastiq, although I believe it is experimenting with alternative fee structures. It is important to note that ONLY business-related payments are allowed. That being said, payment of a mortgage on an investment property is allowed.

Last edited 10 months ago by Reno Joe
LarryInNYC

What I don’t understand is why they would treat a mortgage payment differently from, say, a phone bill payment?

Reno Joe

Let’s say that I lend you $1k in cash. Let’s say that you want to pay me back and use a credit card to do so. The card issuer doesn’t see this as a purchase of either a good or a service. It is an interpersonal transfer.

Let’s say that I lend you $1k for a home loan. How does the card issuer know the difference.

For tax purposes, the interpersonal transfer is not taxable. The home loan payment is taxable.

When a payment is made to a person via PayPal, PayPal asks whether it is a interpersonal transfer or for goods/services. If it is interpersonal, no 1099. If it is for goods/services, yes 1099.

As characterization of every loan repayment type could be unwieldy, I’m guessing that Amex and Visa wanted a simple straightforward characterization of all loan repayments — even if it means disallowing things like a mortgage, car loan, or student loan. I think it was too much of an administrative burden.