Now that Plastiq no longer accepts American Express cards, it makes sense to look for other ways to pay bills by credit card. Melio is a bill payment service that continues to accept Amex. Like Plastiq, Melio also charges a 2.9% fee when paying by credit card, but unlike Plastiq, Melio can only be used by businesses to pay business expenses. If you’re interested in trying Melio, you’ll find a $200 welcome bonus offer below.
Melio Overview
Melio is a service intended to simplify paying business bills. Melio has no subscription fees, and it lets you can pay business bills with a credit or debit card for a 2.9% fee, or for free with bank-to-bank ACH transfers. No matter how vendors want to get paid (ACH or check), Melio users can choose how they want to pay (i.e. ACH for free, or credit card 2.9% fee).
It can make sense to pay the 2.9% fee if you want to increase spend in order to earn a large welcome bonus or to earn a big-spend bonus (for example, some credit cards offer free hotel nights or elite status with big spend). Unfortunately, you cannot pay personal bills with Melio.
Why use Melio?
Here are some reasons you may find Melio compelling for paying business bills that can’t usually be paid by credit card:
- No subscription fee
- Earn credit card rewards. This can be especially compelling when you need to increase spend to earn a large welcome bonus or to earn a big-spend bonus (for example, some credit cards offer free hotel nights or elite status with big spend)
- Keep your cash for up to 45 extra days. With a service like Melio, you can pay your vendors immediately, but wait until your credit card statement is due to pay off your credit card bill.
Melio Welcome Bonus: $200
Sign up for Melio with Frequent Miler’s unique link, and then you’ll earn $200 back after your first successful payment of $200 or more.
We have an affiliate relationship with Melio in which we’ll earn a commission after your first payment of $200 or more (as long as you click through our link to sign up). We negotiated a special offer with Melio to increase your welcome bonus (otherwise, your bonus would have been only $100).
How to earn $200:
- Sign up for Melio here: Frequent Miler’s Melio link.
- Upload a bill or an invoice.
- Make a payment of $200 or more via Melio Pay.
That’s it, Melio should then deposit the $200 cashback to the bank account you provided.
Welcome Offer Terms: To be eligible to receive the $200 Cashback, a user must successfully register to Melio using the link above, and successfully complete their first payment on the platform (via MelioPay) of at least $200, and such payment is not charged back or refunded. Eligible users will receive the $200 Cashback by bank deposit to their bank account provided by such users to Melio. Melio reserves the right to end the promotion ahead of time or to make changes or additions to this promotion for any reason at any time. This promotion is available only to new users who have signed up to Melio using the link above. Melio reserves the right to withhold payment of rewards in case of fraud or abuse and subject to its Terms and Conditions.
Melio Pricing
Melio charges 2.9% to pay with a credit or debit card. Melio’s pricing is nearly identical to Plastiq’s except that Melio charges $1.50 per check after the first 2 free checks each month.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can use Melio?
Almost any U.S. based business, including sole proprietor businesses, can use Melio to pay business bills.
Businesses cannot use Melio if they are involved with any of the following:
- Gambling and related activity
- Multi-level marketing firms or any agents that represent them
- Sales of tobacco, marijuana, hemp, pharmaceuticals, supplements, nutraceuticals, or paraphernalia.
- Pornography, obscene materials, or any sexual/adult services
- Weapons, ammunition, gunpowder, fireworks, and any other explosives
- Toxic, flammable, or any radioactive material
- Gold, silver, diamonds
- Other goods and services subject to government regulation.
What types of payments are allowed with Melio?
Melio offers the following examples of payments that are allowed:
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Rent (when your landlord is a business not an individual)
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Taxes
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Utilities
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SaaS & app-based expenses
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Franchising and operating expenses
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Legal expenses
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Accounting & bookkeeping expenses
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Freelancers/contractors
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Inventory, raw materials, and supplies
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Professional services
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Maintenance services
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Donations
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Employee reimbursements
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Credit card debt (not with a credit card)
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Loan payments (not with a credit card)
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Mortgage payments (not with a credit card)
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Pre-payments (only with ACH bank transfer)
Which credit cards can I pay with?
- American Express: Limited to certain industries
- Visa business cards
- Mastercard
- Discover
What types of payments are allowed with Amex cards?
The use of American Express cards is only supported in the following industries:
- Education
- Government
- Rent
- Utilities
- Membership Clubs
- Professional Services
- Business Services
- Inventory/Wholesale
- Construction/Logistics
Can I make payments with Visa/Mastercard/Amex gift cards?
No. Melio does not allow payments from prepaid cards.
Can I use Melio to pay a 1099 Contractor?
Yes. And your contractor can select how they want to receive payment: check or ACH.
Note that Melio typically asks for one of the following for verification purposes: Trade License / Business Registration, Doing Business As (DBA) Registration, Previous Schedule C filing, Most recent sales tax filing, Business utility bill under sole proprietor or DBA name, Sole proprietor bank statement.
What types of payments are not allowed with Melio?
Melio prohibits all of the following uses:
- Personal payments (i.e. payments for a non-business entity)
- Card network specific restrictions
- Payments from prepaid cards
- Balance transfers (paying a credit card balance with a different credit card)
- Cash advances: payments from a credit card to a business owner; to the business from its owner; to another entity in which the cardholder controls or has interests). This is also extended to household members and relations.
- Payroll transactions (though freelancers and contractors are supported).
- Pharmaceuticals, including for animals
- Flammables
- Explosives
More examples of payments that are not allowed can be found here.
Can I earn multiple welcome bonuses if I have multiple businesses?
Yes. Plus, a cool thing about Melio is that you can add additional companies from a single log-in. Simply click your company name at the top, left of your browser and you should see an option to “Add New company”.
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How long does it take for the cashback to happen? Payment paid on the 15th of May, and nothing so far from Melio
Follow up to prior post 19 days ago – I just received the notification of $200 payment via email titled “Melio – Growth incentives has sent you $200.00 – accept your payment now” and could choose to receive a paper check or ACH. Chose ACH and shows another week or so to be fully delivered. Thanks Greg!!
Great!
Paid out on the estimated date for ACH, so this is fully verified!
What would be the best business credit card to pair with Melio? Would it be the Chase Ink Premier since it has a 2.5% cashback for purchase over $5,000, or are there other better options? I have vendors who only allow payments via check so I am trying to see if I can make Melio work.
That would be an OK choice, but you’d still be losing a bit since Melio’s fee is higher than 2.5%. Best bet is to use Melio to meet minimum spend requirements on any new card that has a large welcome bonus
DP- signed up using the link 4/11. Sent first payment 4/12, sent a second payment 4/13 (both ACH). No fees. 4/12 payment arrived at vendor 4/17. 4/13 payment still pending.
4/18 received email from Melio rep asking to confirm my email and informing me that “the cashback payment will probably be sent at the beginning of next month.” Will update with second DP if cashback received
I recently completed a payment that qualified me for the bonus. I received an email from someone in charge of affiliate marketing with Melio to confirm my email is valid for them to send a payment. Will keep ya posted.
Also a DP – you’re fine paying a business credit card via free check, but I recommend uploading your statement as proof of it being a business card and business expense.
Thanks for that info Troy. Not sure what you mean by the DP. Did you use Melio to pay your business credit card bill?
You’re always welcome! Yes I did, and a previous business expense on a personal card was declined by Melio as a personal payment. So recommend only biz card payments and upload statement so they know it’s a business card. Paid an Amex Biz Plat for what it’s worth.
Signed up and made a payment that seems to have been sent out. What is the normal timeline for the bonus to be deposited to the bank account?
I’m hoping that readers will report their experiences with that here. Readers: if you made your first payment, have you received the $200 bonus yet? If so, how long did it take?
My first payment was made on the 27th, after there was some delays with the compliance department, but no bonus yet. Since there were no terms and conditions in the referral link specifying the bonus amount or timeline, is it possible to check with your contact at the company to determine what the expected time frame to check on the bonus will be–e.g. 10 days, 2 weeks, 30 days–please? That way, we have an idea of whether there’s a delay or if things are going as scheduled
Signed up using your link last month, payment went through (after some lengthy delays with their compliance department) on the 27th. Nothing yet. I don’t know what the terms and conditions are for the bonus, I don’t know if it’s delayed, or on schedule. Is it possible to check with your contact on the bonus posting timeline, please? Thanks in advance
Sorry for the long delay. I’ll check with my Melio contact. What business name or email did you register with your Melio account? If you reply with your email, the spam filter should catch it and stop it from publishing, but I should be able to see it (if it actually publishes, I’ll delete it as soon as I can)
Got your email and forwarded it to Melio this morning (sorry I didn’t see it earlier)
Would property taxes for a rental property qualify as allowed payments and if so would an Amex work for that?
Yes property taxes should work, including with Amex (Amex allows payments to “Government” and so that should qualify)
Does Melio code as a cash advance? For example, when paying with a Chase Ink card?
It shouldn’t ever code as a cash advance. If worried, though, you can call Chase first and ask to have your cash advance limit lowered as far as they will allow. Then, make sure to make your first bill pay through Melio a bigger amount than your cash advance limit.
Did it charge as a purchase or cash advance from the Chase side?
I’ve been using Melio for awhile, and I would just add a note about payments to contractors. Do not use any words in the payment notes like “payroll,” “salary,” etc. Melio has a filter set up to catch these and will automatically reject the payments if it detects any of these (and then the money can end up in limbo, with you having to specifically request that Melio refund it to you). Ask me how I know this….
Great tip, thank you!
It doesn’t mention insurance. Any insight on whether company health insurance would be acceptable?
I asked Melio. Here’s their answer: “as long as the insurance is directly correlated with the business it will be approved from our end. For example, if a business is paying for its employee health insurance it will be approved by Melio.”
I have a home based eBay business just using my name. To get the $200 credit can I pay my home utilities bill which is also in my name?
Good question. I don’t know.
I asked Melio. Here’s their answer: “as long as there is legal documentation/legal proof that the business address matches the home address, it should be approved from Melio’s perspective.”
with the $200 SUB, it seems a simple way of paying $7000 in rent using a cc (2.9% of $7000 = $203) and breaking even. am i missing something?
That’s a good idea.
“Rent (when your landlord is a business not an individual)”
I signed up a few weeks ago (as a sole prop), haven’t processed a payment yet, but I did set up a payee: my landlord, who is an individual. Are you saying that any payment won’t go through? How would they know they are not also a sole prop? Or is this just their stated policy to cover themselves?
That’s a great question. Elsewhere on the site they are clear that sole proprietors are businesses, so my guess is that they’re basically saying that you could pay a real landlord but not your friend that you are subletting from (for example). Again, that’s just my best guess.
Greg, if I don’t have an immediate need for Melio right now, should I sign up now to lock in the $200 offer? Does your first payment need to be made within a certain time period?
I don’t think there’s any hurry to sign up to lock in the offer, but yes I can’t hurt.
I don’t get it.
Taxes – cheaper to pay IRS through the normal 3 processors at about 2%.
Utilities – typically free or 1% and Wyndham card pays 5x points.
Almost anyone will take a credit card directly for at most 3%.
I thought the same thing. The list doesn’t specify which type of taxes, but I believe property tax payments should work and generally those don’t take credit card payments directly, so Melio might work for those instances.
I pay my property taxes with a credit card if I have difficulty paying for a SUB. For each AMEX Bus Plat I get I have to spend $15K to get the 150K points – no way I spend that much, so I just consider this the cost of buying the points. For each Bus. Plat. card it is as follows, roughly:
$15K just in taxes @ ~2% costs about $300 and you get around 172,500 points (150K SUB and the points @ 1.5 points per dollar if over $5K at a time. The fees are billed separately so that changes the calculation by a small amount.
Then you get the overpriced Dell credits which I value at maybe half price or less, I get full $120 value from the cell-phone rebates and $200 or sometimes $400 on the airline rebates (if you get the card around December/January … and remember these actually get points for the rebated charges. All for $695. I calculate this all comes to buying points for about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cent per point.
Admittedly all this works much better in a low-interest environment and now the opportunity cost is much higher when savings accounts are paying 4%.
Sorry I went off on a rant, but I cannot see why anyone uses Plastiq or similar at 3%. And then there is always Simon to help out in a crunch.
No rant, just good thinking. Acknowledgement of added opportunity costs in 4% savings account environment is important for manufactured spend via IRA-held tax payments — still worth it, but the cost of buying MR points has gone up as a result.
This article is about being able to pay with Amex. I just went through this trying to meet an AX SUB.
Our water utility will not accept Amex.
Our CPA does not accept credit cards, I might want to pay with Amex.
To Grant: our county did not accept credit cards directly until a few years ago (with a fee of course). I think enough of us complained that they finally added the ability.
Ditto our local private airport annual dues. A few of us asked and they added the credit card option.
The IRS (through their 3 affiliates) accepts Amex. Same for my state and county taxes and utilities (where they charge a flat fee I just pay a few months in advance). Yes, it’s not great, but if the SUB is big enough ….
It doesnt show the $200 bonus anywhere?
That’s true. I asked them to provide a landing page that shows it but it may be quite a while before they can do that.
should we wait for a landing page before signing up or are you “guaranteeing” the SUB?
I haven’t worked with Melio before, so I can’t guarantee anything, but I don’t have any reason to doubt their word about the signup bonus. Put another way: if a friend or relative of mine wanted to make business payments with a credit card (and didn’t mind the 2.9% fee) I would suggest they go for it now. I don’t see any reason for them to wait.
thank you for responding, but i am only doing this bec the SUB allows me to break even. if i end up being on the hook for $200 in fees, that would put me at a loss.
I understand. All I can say is that I’m confident that the payout will happen as promised. If I was in your position I’d go for it, but if you’re nervous about it then of course you shouldn’t do it. You could also wait for people to comment here with positive or negative experiences before jumping in.
If someone signs up using the link, and doesn’t get the $200 SUB for whatever reason, would you be able to connect us with whomever to follow up on it?
Also, how long after making the qualifying transaction when the bonus be set to post to the account?
Yes, that should be doable. I’ll ask my Melio contact about how long it should take.