Plastiq 10k “Fee-Free Dollars” Promotion Extended for Business Accounts

Plastiq is running a great promotion for business who have yet to sign up for an account — new accounts who make a payment of $10,000 by May 31, 2019 will earn 10,000 in “fee-free dollars” (originally this promotion was set to end on March 31st). This means the fee will be waived on $10,000 worth of purchases after you spend the first $10,000. While making payments via Plastiq is by no means free, there are many opportunities where the points/miles/cash back earned pays for the fees paid (plus more!), especially when the fees paid to Plastiq can be classified as a “business” expense when you do your year end taxes! In order to receive this promo, sign up for a Plastiq account here. *If you are a business and have any questions please contact marketing@plastiq.com.

What is Plastiq? 

If you are new to Plastiq, here is a quick recap: Plastiq is an online bill payment site where you can use credit card to pay bills where you typically couldn’t use a credit card to pay direct. Ultimately, it is an awesome way to earn points and miles! These bills include rent, car loans, utilities, school tuition, taxes, mortgage, contractors, vendors, etc. Here is a handy chart that explains to you which credit cards you can and cannot use for different payments.

Credit Cards Where You Come Out Ahead

Of course you want to use a credit card where you’ll ultimately come out ahead. Since you pay a 2.5% fee to Plastiq, you’ll want something that earns you more. With that being said, if your payments are business related, such as rent, vendors, car payments, contractors, etc. (it really depends on what your business is), you most likely are really only paying about a 1.5% fee to Plastiq (that is assuming you are in the top tax bracket) due to the fees being tax deducible. Of course, you’ll need to do the math based on your personal tax rate. Also, I am not an accountant, so please speak to your personal accountant on how the fee paid works as a business expense deduction.

So let’s assume a 1.5% fee to Plastiq after all is said and done. Here are some cards which will earn you the biggest bang for your buck (and this doesn’t even take into consideration some of the benefits on a particular card if you spend a ton).

• Discover It Miles: Earn 1.5% cash back, however, all miles earned in the first year are doubled which means all Plastiq purchases in the first year will net you a 3% return.
• Chase Freedom Unlimited: Earns 1.5x on all non-category purchases, but if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Chase Ink Preferred, you can transfer your points to one of those “Premier” cards and then transfer your points to partner loyalty programs. I personally value those points at about 2 cents per point, so your Plastiq purchase will net you about a 3% return.
• Barclays Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard: Earn 2x points on every dollar spent. You redeem your points essentially as a travel eraser on all travel purchases made on the card where 1 point = 1 cent per travel — essentially this card gives you a 2% return, however, when you redeem your points you earn 5% back on the points redeemed which means your Plastiq purchase will net you about a 2.1% return.
• Hotel and Airline credit card: For those of you who prefer to earn points and miles towards free travel, use a credit card that will give you at least a 2% return when you go to redeem your points.

Also, with this particular promotion you can ultimately think of it as you are paying a 1.25% fee on your first $20,000 of business expenses. You can then deduct the fee paid as a business expense which means you are ultimately paying even less.

I personally have used Plastiq a bunch this past year to pay bills that I couldn’t otherwise pay. They’ve had some great promotions where the fees were lower (or even waived!) so I was able to earn points and miles on my sons preschool tuition, my daughters after school program tuition, my mortgage, accountant fees, my taxes, etc. It also helped me earn the Southwest Companion Pass by earning enough qualifying points over the year. This year, we are going for Hyatt Globalist status, so we are trying to put as much spend on our World of Hyatt Credit Card, which means we have been using Plastiq a good amount! If you are not a business, you can still sign up for Plastiq and you’ll receive $500 “fee-free dollars” after your first $500 spent. You can sign up for Plastiq here.