【Updated 2020.7】Previously, I hadn’t dug deeply into the data points in this post. Based on information provided by WeChat reader NXL, whether Google Fi payments (both manual and automatic) can be reimbursed as Wireless depends on the transaction’s merchant descriptor Cat. Specifically:

  • If the transaction Cat is: GOOGLE *Google Fi G.CO/HELPPAY# CA, it will code as Wireless and will definitely be reimbursed, usually very quickly within 1-2 days.
  • If the transaction Cat is: GOOGLE*Google Fi GOO G.CO HELPPAY#, it will code as Streaming. If you still have Streaming credit available, it will prioritize using the Streaming credit first (as of publication), and it definitely will not trigger the wireless phone service reimbursement.

At the moment, there does not seem to be any clear pattern as to which Cat is used for Google purchases. Even when we make payments at the same time, sometimes it shows up as “G.CO/HELPPAY# CA,” and sometimes as “GOO G.CO HELPPAY#.” You can simply check whether the suffix includes CA. What we can say for sure is that Fi payments more frequently show up as the wireless-reimbursable “G.CO/HELPPAY# CA.” If you top up, remember to keep an eye on it on day 2-3. If the Cat is wrong and no reimbursement posts, you should quickly consider using up the credit another way or making another payment.

Also, when using the Platinum card to reimburse Fi, we recommend first using the Kindle Gifting method to use up your Streaming credit, then making a manual Google Fi payment afterward, to avoid having “GOO G.CO HELPPAY#” consume your Streaming credit first.

If you look carefully at the DPs below, this really does seem to be the rule. At the same time, this rule appears to apply to all Google purchases. If you are hoping to use other Google purchases to trigger Streaming or wireless reimbursement, be sure to watch the descriptor carefully.

H/T: WeChat reader NXL, Peter Zhang, 意识刘

【The following was the 101 news flash from June 16, 2020】

AMEX had only recently restored Google Fi/GV top-ups to qualify for Wireless reimbursement last month, but there seem to be new issues again recently. Here is a summary of the information from our WeChat groups.

Google Fi

【Update】After the statement closed, my Google Fi charge from June 4 finally got reimbursed—successfully as Streaming. Based on the messy DPs so far, it seems Google Fi sometimes gets reimbursed as Streaming first; if no Streaming reimbursement is available, then it may reimburse as wireless phone service. A top-up on the 1st prioritized wireless reimbursement, while a top-up on the 4th prioritized Streaming reimbursement. Pretty mysterious... I had no choice but to top up Fi again.

Google Fi manual payment link

Reimbursement DPs

For next month, we suggest using the Kindle gifting trick to use up the Streaming credit first, then topping up Fi. As for the AMEX Green, if you are trying to use Fi for reimbursement, be prepared for the possibility that it may not reimburse.

At the moment, it appears that top-ups made on June 4 cannot be reimbursed for now, for unknown reasons. In addition, some DPs show that Fi has recently also been incorrectly reimbursed as Streaming, though it can also code as Wireless instead (but it cannot trigger both reimbursements at the same time)... Very confusing.

  • Google Fi top-ups made in time on June 1 or June 2 were all reimbursed normally on June 3 or June 4. Several of my cards were reimbursed early.
Top-ups made promptly on the 1st were all reimbursed
  • It seems that after June 3, Google Fi top-ups were not being reimbursed for a long time; some have already taken more than a week. I also have one Green and one Platinum that still were not reimbursed for a while (both were top-ups made on the 4th, not reimbursed as of then).
  • Fi top-ups made on June 5 and later can be reimbursed normally. HT: Karl

Google Voice

  • Google Voice top-ups seem to have switched back to Streaming reimbursement again... 【2020.7 update: the Cat suffix matters here too】

I’m not sure whether AMEX is still tweaking its system, and this also happened to coincide with the weekend. In principle, it makes sense for Fi to reimburse as wireless phone service and GV as Streaming. Hopefully AMEX will get the reimbursement system sorted out soon!

Other Google purchases

These can still be reimbursed as Streaming, but YMMV; sometimes they do not trigger anything, which is pretty unpredictable. 【2020.7 update: the Cat suffix matters here too】

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