There is good news today for Plastiq and Amex fans: Plastiq sent an email last night indicating that Amex cards can now be used to pay a wider variety of categories via Plastiq. Categories that can be made with an Amex via Plastiq are still much more limited than those that can be paid with other issuers, but the expansion here opens up categories that will be useful for some.
For those unfamiliar with Plastiq, it is a service that enables you to use a credit card to pay certain types of bills that ordinarily require a check. They charge a fee (typically 2.85%), so it typically only makes sense to use the service if you are triggering a large welcome bonus or big spend bonus as you’ll otherwise not earn more in rewards than the cost of the transaction. Read more about Plastiq and which types of cards can be used for which types of payments in our Complete Guide to Plastiq credit card payments.
The types of bills that could be paid with an American Express card had long been limited to stuff like tuition and taxes. Now there are many additional eligible categories, including:
- Construction
- Wholesale inventory
- Secretarial Services
- Business services like accounting, legal, and more
- Computer programming / data processing
- Building maintenance & repair like cleaning & janitorial services, extermination, etc
- See a full list here (it’s easiest to download their PDF to view it)
While this change won’t make much difference for some, others who have significant expenses in these categories will find this an easy way to hit spending bonuses.
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How does Amex feel about using Plastiq to pay tuition towards a SUB?
They don’t mind
Awesome, thanks!
I had a tax check sent a date later than Plastiq claimed. The postmark contradicted their claims.
Be aware that Plastiq has pretty horrendous customer service. They don’t operate outside M-F 9-5 hours. The chat line has a long lag time even if no one is ahead of you. There is no phone line to reach anyone. They sent a rent check out that bounced and refused to pay the fees, and I am a lawyer and can get in lots of trouble for bouncing checks. (This is when AMEX changed their policy about paying for office rent.) I finally gave up the service after they screwed up my rent checks 4 months in a row, so no one got paid. I decided earning points was not worth putting up with paying them to render me incompetent service.
“For those unfamiliar with Plastiq, it is a service that enables you to use a credit card to pay certain types of bills that ordinarily require a credit card.” ???
Whoops — that should say bills that ordinarily require a check. Fixed.