【Updated 2023.5】Plastiq has announced a Chapter 11 restructuring (the “Transaction”), but a buyer has already been lined up. Priority Technology Holdings announced that it has signed a stalking horse agreement with Plastiq to purchase all of the company’s assets and expand its B2B embedded finance solutions. Plastiq is a B2B payments platform that provides bill payment and instant access to working capital for small and mid-sized businesses. This acquisition will help business owners optimize their cash flow and working capital strategies.

If the handoff goes smoothly, it should not affect everyone’s ability to use Plastiq to pay bills. That said, we suggest also keeping an eye on whether checks are being mailed out properly. Previously, the collapse of SVB temporarily affected their payments.

What Is Plastiq?

In the US, there are all kinds of bills to pay: rent, utilities, college tuition and fees, HOA dues, medical bills, annual state and federal taxes, bank loans, and more. Some of these bills can be paid directly with a credit card, which lets us meet minimum spending requirements on a new card or earn some cash back while paying them. That is a win-win. But some bills cannot be paid directly by credit card, or they come with a very high fee if you try. So how can we still use a credit card from a different angle? Today, we are introducing a very useful bill-pay tool: Plastiq.

Plastiq offers an online payment service that allows members to pay with credit cards and debit cards already in their wallet, regardless of what payment types the recipient accepts. Unlike other solutions, Plastiq can send payment in the form accepted by the recipient, either via electronic bank transfer or check. The recipient does not need a Plastiq account to receive payment. Plastiq originally started as a Canadian company, but it is now well established in the US. We consider Plastiq mainly for the following reasons:

  • You can use a credit card to pay almost any bill: For some common payees, such as utility companies or bank loans, Plastiq can send your payment directly to the corresponding account via electronic transfer. For less common payees, they can mail a check directly to them. So, somewhat exaggerating, you can use Plastiq to pay almost any bill. And these bills are often quite large, which makes them useful for meeting minimum spending requirements on a new card.
  • Payments made with Master/AMEX/Discover through Plastiq count as regular purchases, count toward minimum spending, can earn rewards, and do not trigger Cash Advance: When you pay bills through Plastiq with a credit card, the charge is treated as a normal purchase. That means you can earn your card’s rewards, and the spending also counts toward the spending requirement for a welcome bonus. This is especially convenient for people who have trouble meeting minimum spend. You do not even have to leave home—just go online and pay bills you already need to pay. Another important point is that these charges are not treated as Cash Advance, so you avoid those high fees. For more on this, see: Cash Advance Basics
  • Starting in June 2018, some Visa cards require extra attention for possible cash advance treatment. See below for details.
  • The credit card payment fee is acceptable: Plastiq’s current payment fee is 2.5%. If you use a foreign-issued credit card, the fee may become 3.5%. If you factor in the 1%-2% rewards or cash back that many credit cards offer, the fee can still be acceptable. Plastiq also runs promotions regularly, especially for Master cards, and sometimes lowers fees for all card types. For example, there have recently been several targeted promotions offering a 1.5% fee.

Registration and Signup Bonus

If you register for Plastiq through our referral link, you can receive fee-free payment capacity, also known as Fee-Free Dollar (FFD). In other words, this portion of your payment does not incur a fee. Currently, new users who sign up and use Plastiq to make total payments of more than $500 can receive $500 in FFD (previously $200). We have not yet seen when this promotion will end.

How to Use Plastiq to Pay Bills

Sign up and add a credit card

p2
  • Add the credit card you want to use for payment. Supported cards include AMEX/VISA/MASTER/Discover.
p3

Add a payee

  • Add the person or company you want to pay. Here we use a Citi bank loan as an example.
p5
  • Find CitiMortgage and verify that the information matches the address you normally use to make your loan payment.
p6
  • After adding it successfully, you can see what form your payment will take when it is sent to Citi.
p7【Important】If the payee you enter cannot be found in Plastiq, you will need to manually add the recipient’s name and address. In that case, the payment will be mailed directly to the recipient as a check. For example, if you want to pay tuition to the University of Kansas, you can directly enter the school’s payment address. p8

After filling this out, be sure to choose the correct payer category. You will find this to be very important when making the payment.

p9

Make a payment

  • Click Start a Payment, choose the payee you just added, then enter the amount you want to pay to send payment to the designated recipient.
p10
  • Note that after entering the amount, you will be asked to enter your account number and notes. Be sure the account information is correct.
p11
  • On the next step, the review page shows a summary of this payment and any additional fees required. (I had $200 of FFD in my account, so the fee was 0.)
p13

Using FTF

Plastiq has always stated that FTF (Fee-Free-Dollars) is valid for only 90 days, but any activity can extend it.

FTF now requires manual enrollment. Before making a payment, click “Apply my Fee Free Dollars” below the total amount to enroll and deduct the corresponding fee. See screenshot below (before enrolling):

Note: If you added the payee yourself (for example, University of Kansas in the example above), you will see the corresponding account name field when filling out the account information. For example, after selecting tuition above, you need to enter your name and student ID. Since the payment method is mailing a check, I assume this student ID will appear in the note section of the check, which is consistent with the school’s tuition payment requirements.

p12

If you want to schedule a future payment, on step 2 of the payment process click set payment schedule. A calendar will then appear, and you can set a future payment.

ss

Payment timeline

I paid tuition once myself, so here is a timeline for reference:

  • 8/25: Added the school office as the payee in Plastiq and paid 20 in tuition with an AMEX card
  • 8/26: Plastiq mailed the check to the school
  • 9/2: Plastiq’s estimated check delivery date to the school
  • 9/8: The school credited the check to my account
  • 9/13: Plastiq showed that my check had been cashed

From the start of payment, it took a total of 8 business days (12 calendar days) for the check to post. So if you are paying by check, it is best to pay about half a month in advance.

Things to keep in mind

Fees

Plastiq’s fee is capped at 2.5%, but the fee for each type of credit card can change, and promotions are often available. Currently, the fees are as follows:

  • Master Credit Card: 2.5%
  • Visa Credit Card: 2.5%
  • AMEX Credit Card: 2.5%
  • Discover Credit Card: 2.5%
  • Debit card: 1% (must be a debit card linked to a Checking account)
  • Most Mainland China Visa/Master/AMEX/JCB single-network or dual-network credit cards: 3.5% (some credit cards are 2.5%)

Readers are welcome to share more data points on fees for credit cards issued outside the US and Canada so we can compile them.

Payment restrictions

[2019/07 update] Plastiq has now successfully partnered with Visa (for previous Visa payment rules, please read below). Plastiq emailed users about this, and explained it on its blog: using a Plastiq Visa payment in the following categories will no longer count as a Cash Advance:

  • Residential Rent & HOA Fees;
  • Commercial Rent;
  • Taxes & Government Fees;
  • Utilities (Electricity, Gas, Sanitation, Sewer) ;
  • Tuition (including daycare and camp) ;

[2019.02 update] Plastiq officially listed currently payable bills in this PDF: click here to view it.

Plastiq can pay most bills, including categories such as:

  • Car payments (monthly leases)
  • Rent
  • Mortgage
  • Taxes
  • Tuition
  • Condo fees
  • Insurance
  • Contractors
  • Nannies, babysitters
  • Landscapers
  • Purchase car, boat
  • Professional services: Law firms, Accounting firms, PR agencies, etc.
  • Sports clubs/country clubs/social clubs

But there are also some categories that cannot be paid:

  • Payments to credit cards
  • Payments to self
  • Payments to friends or relatives*
  • Payments to recipients outside Canada and US
  • Payments to savings accounts, trust accounts, retirement accounts, health savings accounts, or similar
  • Payments to 529 Education Savings Programs

[11/2 update] AMEX can now be used to pay bills again, but according to the terms, the following two restrictions were added. In my opinion, even if what you want to pay falls within the restricted scope, it may still be worth trying, because sometimes the name does not clearly indicate the specific payment category.

  • For Recipients in the United States, the use of American Express cards is permitted for the following industries: Government, Utilities, Education, Residential Rent and Club Fees and Memberships.
  • For Recipients in Canada, the use of American Express cards is permitted for the following industries: Government, Utilities, School, School K-12 and Residential Rent.

Payments can now also be sent to the recipient via bank ACH or US domestic wire transfers, both of which can arrive within 5 days. This improves reliability and speed, and makes it easier to plan the timing of each payment. To activate this feature, you need to verify your name and phone number. You will see these two options when adding a new payee. In addition, it is now possible to pay individuals, though it is still unclear whether you could pay a friend directly and cash out that way.

Other

  • Reliability: Many people on various forums use this to pay bills, especially loans, so from that perspective Plastiq should be fairly reliable.
  • First payment: For your first payment, it is best to start with $20 as a test, for example to see whether the recipient can receive the money and how long it takes to arrive. That gives you a better sense of how it works. Try not to make your first payment too large in case something unexpected happens. Of course, paying $20 also activates the $200 FFD sign-up bonus. Then you can use that FFD on the second payment.
  • Payment timing: Leave plenty of time for the payment. Don’t wait until the bill is almost due before using Plastiq, or getting hit with a late fee would not be worth it.

Prepaid Debit Card

According to an email received, starting in January 2020, Plastiq will no longer allow personal Prepaid Debit Card payments (including Visa gift cards, MGC, and AMEX gift cards). My personal guess is that these cards are anonymous and it is difficult to trace their source and actual purchaser, which can easily lead to fraud, so this payment method was discontinued. For us, using Visa gift cards to pay had two advantages: first, the fee was low at only 1%; second, you could buy Visa gift cards at places like supermarkets and drugstores where you earn bonus rewards. That effectively meant earning 5%-7% back on bill payments, which was pretty substantial. If you are interested, you can hurry and buy/pay within the last few days. The email is below (from doc):

We would like to let you know about a change to our service that may affect you.

As of January 1, 2020, Plastiq will no longer support payments made with personal prepaid debit cards. However, payments made with business prepaid debit cards and payroll cards will continue to be accepted.

After this date, all scheduled payments made with personal prepaid cards will be declined by Plastiq. Starting January 2020, you will be unable to add a personal prepaid debit card to a Plastiq account.

From now until January 1, 2020, a limit of $7,500 in total payments will be enforced on Plastiq accounts that continue to utilize this payment method. Once this limit is reached on your account, further payments using a personal prepaid debit card will be rejected.

This change does not impact any payments made with credit or debit cards on the Discover, Mastercard, Visa, and American Express networks.

Best Ways to Use It

The key to maximizing Plastiq is choosing the right card to pay your bills. Below is a summary of my own thoughts as well as ideas shared by readers:

Credit cards for meeting minimum spending requirements:

Since Plastiq supports the four major credit card networks—AMEX, Visa, Master, and Discover—in theory, it can be used to complete the minimum spending requirement for most credit cards. At the moment, Plastiq transactions on AMEX, Master, and Discover are coded as normal purchases, so you can use them with confidence. Visa is currently less friendly toward Plastiq, and there is some risk that it may be flagged as a cash advance:

On June 1, 2018, Plastiq officially announced several changes related to using Visa cards for payments and provided a detailed breakdown of how different types of Visa cards would be affected. The main points readers care about are as follows [2019/05 update]:

  • Visa Business cards, Capital One Visa personal credit cards, Barclays Visa personal credit cards, Wells Fargo Visa personal credit cards, and Visa debit cards are unaffected and can be used normally.
  • Chase Visa personal credit cards may show a cash advance warning when used on Plastiq, but they can still be used normally (earning rewards and triggering the welcome bonus as usual). The usable amount will be limited by your cash advance line, which is 20% of your credit limit. In the end, it will not actually be posted as a cash advance.
  • Citi bank and BofA Visa personal credit cards will be treated as cash advances on Plastiq!
  • Other Visa personal credit cards may also be treated as cash advances. Plastiq has listed the situation for most U.S. Visa cards; please refer to the link.

More importantly, if you use methods such as buying VGC/MGC to meet minimum spending requirements, the bank may identify those purchases and classify them as Cash Equivalence, then claw back your welcome bonus. Recently, many AMEX Platinum cardholders had their 100,000-point welcome bonus clawed back because they bought Visa gift cards. Using Plastiq to meet minimum spending is much safer, because these payments are normal purchases. If the bank asks, you can simply explain that you were paying bills. Even large amounts are easy to justify.

Credit cards with large-spending bonuses

Some credit cards offer an extra bonus after you spend xx in a cardmember year. For people who already plan to hit those thresholds every year, Plastiq can be a fast way to do it. In my opinion, worthwhile large-spending bonuses include:

  • AMEX Hilton Surpass: Spend $15,000 in a cardmember year and get an extra weekend night certificate. It can be very valuable if used well.
  • AMEX Hilton Aspire: Spend $60,000 in a cardmember year and get an extra weekend night certificate, same as above.
  • AMEX Delta Reserve credit card: Useful for pursuing elite status. Spend $30,000 in the first year and you can earn a total of 25k MQM, enough to directly meet Delta Silver MQM requirements. If you spend $60,000 and then fly another 10,000 MQM, you would have 50,000 MQM total, enough for Delta Gold MQM requirements.
  • Barclays Aviator Silver credit card: Spend 20,000 and get 5,000 EQM; spend 40,000 and get 10,000 EQM. This can help you pursue AA elite status.
  • Chase World of Hyatt: Spend 15,000 in a cardmember year and get an extra Cat 1-4 Free Night; earn 2 elite night credits for every $5,000 spent, with no cap. Great for those who like Hyatt and want to pursue Globalist or requalify.

Credit cards whose return exceeds the fee

Right now, the fee for AMEX and Master is 2.5%, and basically no cash back card earns that much on ordinary spending. So generally speaking, if you are not working on minimum spend or a large-spending bonus, there is no need to use them to pay bills. That said, there are a few exceptions:

Citi AT&T Acess More credit card

The reason this card deserves its own section is that, according to reader testing, when paying many types of loans with the Citi AT&T card, the transaction is treated as an online purchase and earns 3x. So if you have this card, it may be worth trying a small payment first. If it really earns 3x, you come out ahead. Since TYP can be worth 1.6 cents each, 3x is equivalent to 4.8% back, which is definitely higher than the fee. For a current list of payments that may earn 3x, see: this article

[10/11 update] Today my Citi AT&T credit card statement posted, and both my tuition and rent payments counted toward 3x. The Plastiq charge on the credit card appears as shown below. If your payment also shows this kind of Category, you may very likely receive 3x.

pp

[8/24 update] The Citi AT&T Access More credit card updated its terms on July 22, and the 3x categories now exclude real estate payment. However, based on reader data points, various loan payments still earned 3x, although they were reclassified as government service. I still recommend making a small test payment yourself and checking your AT&T statement to see whether you got 3x. If it still earns 3x, the points are still worth more than the 2.5% fee, so coming out ahead on loan payments is pretty nice.

My guess: We know that paying tuition directly with the AT&T card does not count for 3x, because the education category is excluded. Using Plastiq is like putting a disguise on the transaction, making Citi think it is something else. Another possible reason is that my school is not on Plastiq's ACH list, so payment had to be sent by check, which further obscures the fact that it is tuition. So you could try entering the address of the office at your school that receives payments, forcing Plastiq to mail a check, and see whether you can get 3x.

If you do not have the AT&T card (it is no longer available for new applications), you can consider getting it through a product change. For details, see: Credit Card Tips — Product Change

AMEX Small Business Day (Expired)

Plastiq emailed users asking them to register for an AMEX promotion to earn 2x points. Plastiq also published an official blog post confirming that it was participating in AMEX’s Small Business promotion. See: this post.

pl

On the 24th, I tested paying a bill (tuition) through Plastiq with my AMEX Delta Platinum card, for a total of $670. My credit card statement has not closed yet, so I have not received the base 670 miles, but this extra 1x promotional bonus has already shown up in my Delta account. Based on the timing, the bonus seems to post about 3-5 days after the charge posts.

dl

For details and more DPs, see:

Using Mainland China overseas cashback promotions for payment

Banks and card networks in Mainland China have long encouraged cardholders to make overseas purchases, often with generous returns. For Mainland China credit cards, Plastiq transactions count as online foreign transactions. Plastiq currently supports single-network or dual-network credit cards issued in Mainland China on V/M/AE/JCB, with fees of 2.5%-3.5%. When combined with these cashback promotions (5%-10%), Plastiq can let you pay conveniently while still coming out ahead. For more details, see: How to use overseas cashback promotions on Mainland China credit cards in the U.S. (5%～30% cashback, up to 10,000 RMB)

If you are in Mainland China and need to use Plastiq to pay U.S.-related expenses such as rent, sometimes you may need a VPN to log in quickly. We recommend Express VPN; click here for details.

About overpay

Plastiq also qualifies for AMEX’s Small Business 2x promotion this year, so using it to pay rent, insurance, utilities, and taxes for 2x SPG/MR can be a great option. If you want to maximize this AMEX Small Business 2x promotion, you need to make your AMEX payment before the offer expires at year-end. One method is to overpay your bills. Different companies have different rules for overpay. I tried overpaying my rent; the landlord accepted the money normally, but it was put into Advance Payment Release status, essentially held in a separate balance and automatically applied once rent comes due. If you are interested in paying ahead of time, it is worth checking with the payee about its overpay rules. Some merchants may even refund the overpaid amount by check, which effectively turns this into cash-out. For more details, see: AMEX sbs+plastiq analysis

How to trigger the 1-1.5% fee offers

Author KUKU has consistently received 1% or 1.5% offers from Plastiq and has also been using Plastiq to pay rent regularly. Many people may have noticed that if you keep using Plastiq continuously, such as paying rent once a month, Plastiq will stop sending these low-fee offers. So why am I still getting them while continuing to use Plastiq?

  • The answer: use alternate accounts.

Plastiq currently allows you to register 1-2 additional accounts in moderation. Since registration requires an SSN, they know these are your alternate accounts. But just having alternate accounts is not enough. You need to make at least one payment with the alternate account, then let it sit unused for a period of time while continuing to use your main account normally. Before long, the alternate accounts may start receiving low-fee offers. My own approach is to use an alternate account whenever it has a low-fee offer, and otherwise use the main account.

If you need to register an alternate account, in theory you can also self-refer, but I still prefer being referred to avoid a clawback. Feel free to use the link in this post to sign up.

Supports international payments

As of September 2019, Plastiq had gradually opened business payments to Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, Thailand, Australia, and all EU countries. The fee is a $50 international wire fee + 2.5% processing fee. If any readers have successfully made international payments, please share your payment DP (time line) with us.

Sign-up link

  • Plastiq sign-up link (limited-time bonus: $1,000 FFD, available after paying $2,500)
  • If you already signed up through the official website (not through a referral), you generally get only $50 FFD. Within three months, you can enter code 1186681 in the Rewards & Referrals section

The original author of this article is ymlulu
and it has been supplemented and updated based on the original.