Pay Anyone You Wish Via Credit Card and Earn Points for Less than Paypal Charges (Without Paypal’s Annoyances)

A couple of years ago you could send people money, charged to your credit card, for free with Google Wallet.

Now you can’t even send Google Wallet payments funded via credit card at all.

Paypal charges you close to 3%, and the funds sit in someone’s paypal account until transferred out meaning there’s risk that Paypal may not allow the transfer (in the event they have a security concern). This can be really inconvenient, if they hold significant funds for any lengthy period of time.

Paying that much just to make a payment seems silly under most circumstances. Occasionally though you may find yourself in a pinch where it could be worth it, to push yourself over the top towards a bonus that requires a lot of spend or just because you need the convenience.

Doctor of Credit points out that the service Plastiq will let you send payments to anyone, charging your credit card and mailing them a check, for a 2.5% fee.

The fee is lower than Paypal’s, and the funds don’t sit in their account with potential restrictions on transfer out, so it may be safer. (Paypal is perhaps better-capitalized, but a credit card purchase transaction is going to have protections in the event of a problem there, even.) You also don’t need your counterparty to even have a Paypal account. They’ll also make electronic transfers.

They accept Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.

So this could be strategically useful for some.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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  1. Finally something i know.

    1. you can not pay anyone — you can pay businesses but you can not pay an individual such as your friend. I just called in and verified.

    2. Bank of america will charge a cash equivalence fee — 10 dollars on the payee, an additional 10 on the service fee. I do not know if they also charge interest or give points.

    3. i believe it is a us company with offices in boston and the bay area, operating in canada for a couple of years already.

    4. they started with excellent service, now service merely good. It takes a minute or two to enter the payment, a couple of seconds to process, two or three days for the money to be received.

    5. hard to see miles or other rewards that are worth more than 2.5 per cent and the hassle. but as long as you do not get stuck with a cash advance fee or cash equivalency it may help with minimum spends. does not work with td bank in canada (mostly visa but one mastercard) nor royal bank in canada. it can be a ymmv type thing — no charges, then no acceptance at all, then acceptance again but with fees and no points crediting.

  2. I like to use Chase QUICK PAY…If you have any kind of Chase account with them like a credit card,bank loan any kind of account(you don’t have to have a checking or a savings with them)
    It is free to send money straight to a email address.Its so simple to use any time i need to give or receive money.My daughter uses it when she sends me her insurance payment.

  3. @marie – Is it free to send $ through Chase? Will they close acct it there will send $ to my relatives and they will send $ to me?

    Thank you in advance!

  4. I have a TD bank account. I have read in many comments that it is easy to make points somehow using TD Bank, but cannot find the info on how to do it… Can anyone please either tell me or give a link where I would be able to find more information on it? Thanks!

  5. Does anyone have experience with this company? Can I earn miles if I pay CC?

    I usually buy miles on aa.com because I use them most to fly from SYD to PVG with QF J that costs me 70K aa miles or USD$5K plus for RT. I am ok with 2.5% fee giving me a RT ticket for $1750. I know air china is cheaper but I try my best to skip CA or CZ

    Or is there any other way? for my situation, I think 2-2.5% is fair, that’s why I always pay property tax with CC. I do not have any AA/UA/DL status

    Thanks in advance

  6. Chase QUICK PAY’s website says you must have a Chase Checking account. Is this true?

  7. Re: Chase QUICKPAY

    “Can I make a Chase QuickPay payment with a credit card?

    You may only make a credit card payment when paying an invoice to a business who accepts credit cards through Chase QuickPay. This option will only be available if the payment is eligible for such payments.”

  8. This is the best option these days to make minimum spend limits?! It makes me so sad.

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