Hi all,
I'm trying to work out the cheapest way to pay rent using a credit card (Mastercard) for the purposes of accumulating points.
I'm seeing a lot of options where it's 1.5% transaction value, wondering if there are other creative ways to avoid/minimise the surcharge.
If anything can share their experience with me it would be much appreciated :)
You would pay 1.5% transaction fee.. As you already know.
Max reward benefits are around 0.5% of the transaction
For eg… 1 point per $… Pay rent of 10000 and get 10000 points. You could redeem these for a max of $50 gift card from coles/woolies etc. But would gave paid $150 in fee already to get the $50 card.
Yep. Just pay rent normally like everybody else does.
Lel
work out the cheapest way to pay rent using a credit card (Mastercard) for the purposes of accumulating points.
Credit cards are slugged fees ranging from 0.5% to 3% depending on volume of sales etc.
1.5% transaction value, wondering if there are other creative ways to avoid/minimise the surcharge.
Not really, the law allowed for credit card surcharge to be passed on.
So 'cash' is free, credit card will be cash rate + credit card fee
and normally paying a credit fee isn't worth the return if doing it just for points!
In short, it's incredibly unlikely that the value of the points will outweigh the cost of the surcharge.
However, if you're inclined you can do some simple maths to prove it to yourself.
You first need to determine the value of the points you are earning on your credit card. Once you have that figure (say 1.2c/point as an example), determine your points/dollar earn rate (say, 1 point/$). In our example, that equates to you earning 1.2 x 1 = 1.2 cents for every dollar you spend. So if the surcharge was 1.5%, meaning 1.5 cents for every dollar, in our example it's not worth it (since you will be charged 1.5 cents per dollar, but only getting back 1.2 cents per dollar).
You also need to check the conditions of earn rate on your credit card. Sometimes they will explicitly rule our earning points on specific types of bills.
I did the sums on this when I was renting in 2017 ($800/week). On a Coles Mastercard with linked Flybuys it wasn't worth it.
I'm seeing a lot of options where it's 1.5% transaction value
So, what are those options? I've found a few but they all require the landlord / rental agency to be signed up as well. I pay for my rent via bank transfer, and am looking for a way to switch to credit card payments even if it will cost me extra 1.5% fee.
If the OP is using rent to get over the bonus point threshold then it would be worth it to pay the surcharge. I explored this last year and unfortunately there's no real way around the 1.5%.
Thanks everyone for your input.
In my view, if your exclusive points accumulation strategy involves paying 1.5% per transaction, then it's very difficult to get ahead and in most cases will loose you money.
If your goal is Business Class flight redemption, and you're putting aprox 20% of your spend through at 1.5% then it may be worth considering.
The strategy that makes sense for me is to supplement my points balance by paying 1.5% per transaction for aprox 20% - 25% of spend, as in my experience I average 1.5 - 2.5 cents per point in redemption value. In certain scenarios you'll still end up ahead.
Secondary purpose is to get across the line with credit card signup bonuses.
FYI I've found an offering called RentPay which only charges 1.25%
Ironically, there is limited to no flying happening around the world (especially where I'm from haha)
FYI I've found an offering called RentPay which only charges 1.25%
But your rental agency must be registered with them in order for you to be able to use their service, right?
Yeah you're right, that's the second hurdle
Keen to also know about this.