Between rent and school payments, I am paying quite a lot over ACH and am wondering if there’s any way to also get some benefits back from these payments.
There are cards out there like the “Fold” card that will give back up to 1.5% in BTC for ACH transactions, but that’s contingent on you spending a lot on other transactions and the card also has a $100 annual fee.
I don’t care if the rewards are USD, BTC or booster packs of Pokémon cards. I’d just like something back from these transactions.
Credit cards pay out rewards using money they charge merchants on the transaction. The cards discourage merchants from offering a discount for people who pay in less expensive ways, but if you ask you can often get a discount for cash. Typically the cards charge merchants 3% and give you back 2%. Cards are worth it to a merchants such as gas stations but usually not worth it for companies accepting rent. If you rent from an individual, you might get a discount for giving them cash or check, but a company with hundreds of units probably prefers paying the small ACH fees to avoid dealing with physical payments.
ACH?
Ah, thanks! Corrected
Wasn’t sure if that’s why you’re having trouble finding something that gives rewards.
I wouldn’t expect too many ACH rewards to exist, though. ACH is lower cost than credit card fees but my understanding is it usually still isn’t free. Credit card fees paid by the merchant mostly go to the card issuer (bank) who in turn offers a portion of that fee to the card holder as a reward to incentivize them to use the card more. I think the ACH fees mostly go to the clearing house, usually the Federal Reserve in the U.S., so they’re not turning around and handing any portion of those fees to consumers. The fee can also be paid by the sender or the recipient, so that further reduces the opportunity to supply a reward incentive.
Gotcha, that makes sense. The only cards I see offering this are Fold and Bilt, and I’m not sure Bilt would handle anything other than rent (as that’s all they advertise). Thank you for the reply
If your paying rent and such from a checking account. I recommend a Fidelity Cash Management account. It’s a checking account with an interest rate (currently at 2.19%), so the money sitting in there before your rent payment happens it’s making (some) money.
Thank you. I’m currently using Wealthfront at 4%, but interest rates change so I’ll keep that one in mind
