If you have a rewards credit card in your wallet, you may want to use it as often as possible to maximize its benefits and accumulate as many points as you can. After which you can redeem your points to cover the costs of all sorts of products and services, making your money work for you.
But have you ever wanted to use your credit card to pay your bills, including your rent? You’re likely spending thousands of dollars a month in bills, so wouldn’t it be great to be able to put those expenses on your card and reach your points goal a lot faster?
The thing is, using your credit card to pay for things like your rent hasn’t always been easy or even possible, depending on your landlord. However, there’s a new platform available that could make it possible for you to cover the cost of your rent with your credit card, which means many more points collected each month.
Plastiq is an online platform that allows you to add your credit card to your account and pay for all sorts of bills — including your rent — that you may not have been able to do before such a platform existed.
How Does Plastiq Work?
Plastiq is easy to use. Follow these steps to get set up:
- Create an account. Input the recipient information, payment amount, and the credit card you’d like to use to make your payment.
- Your credit card will be charged. Once the payment is sent through Plastiq, your card will be charged, along with a 2.89% transaction fee.
- The recipient receives your payment. Your landlord or biller will receive the funds requested through bank transfer or cheque, without them requiring an account with Plastiq.
Plastiq allows all major credit cards to be used, including Visa and MasterCard, as well as debit cards.
Find out if your rent payments can help you build credit.
Cost of Using Plastiq
Plastiq charges a fee of 2.85% per transaction. There may also be additional fees based on the country that your credit card was issued in or the method of payment delivery. So, if you’re paying a rent of $1,500, you’d be paying a fee of $42.75.
The fee for credit and debit cards issued in the US is discounted to 1%.
Check out how much the average rent is in Canada.
Pros and Cons of Using Plastiq to Pay Your Rent
There are a few perks and drawbacks to using Plastiq that you should be aware of before you choose to use this service.
Pros
- Simplicity. Plastiq is really easy to use. All you have to do is create an account, add your credit card, search for payees that you’ll be paying through the platform, and set up your payment.
- Many payees accepted. In addition to your rent, there are many other service providers that you can pay through Plastiq, except your mortgage lender.
- Set up recurring payments. There’s no need to have to remember to pay specific bills thanks to the recurring payment set-up feature with Plastiq.
- Referral program. As a Plastiq user, you can earn Fee-Free Dollars that will help you save some money on fees.
- Schedule and track your payments. Current and future recurring payments can be easily tracked using Plastiq.
- Pay vendors who don’t accept credit cards. Even if the biller you are paying does not accept credit card payments, you can still pay using your card, and the vendor will receive payment in the desired format.
- Guaranteed on-time delivery. If your payments are late because of Plastiq, the service will pay your late fee.
- Earn points on your credit card. By using your rewards credit card to make payments, you can earn points faster with each bill payment made through Plastiq that may not otherwise have been possible.
Check out if you can rent an apartment with bad credit.
Cons
- Fees per transaction. There’s a 2.85% fee that comes with every transaction made using Plastiq. As such, you’ll need to compare the cost of this service to the points you can earn when using your credit card to pay your rent.
- Not all Canadian payees available. Since Plastiq is not a Canadian company, there are still many Canadian payees that are not available through the platform.
- Only credit cards are accepted as a payment method. Other similar platforms allow users to use other payment methods, such as bank transfers and debit cards. But Plastiq only allows credit cards as payment for the time being.
Additional Reading
Plastiq FAQs
Is Plastiq safe?
How long does Plastiq take to pay my landlord?
Final Thoughts
Plastiq offers a unique way for tenants to pay their rent every month. Rather than having to write or send a cheque, you can use your credit card to cover the thousands of dollars you pay in rent every year, which can help you accumulate far more rewards points on your credit card as a result. Just make sure that the points you earn outweigh the costs to use this service.
