Earn 3x Points on Plastiq Payments With Ink Business Preferred

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If you use a rewards credit card to make rent or business payments through the bill-paying service Plastiq, you usually will earn the non-bonus category rewards rate on the transaction — typically just 1 or 2 points per dollar depending on the card you use.

In these cases, the transaction fee Plastiq charges — 2.5% — would effectively wipe out any rewards you earn. You may still find the service useful if you need to boost spending to earn a welcome bonus or an annual bonus or when Plastiq offers a promotion that offsets a portion of its fee on credit card transactions.

But for the last few months, owners of the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card have reported receiving 3 points per dollar spent using the service. That has continued, although there's no telling how long it may last.

Ink Business Preferred pays 3x points on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel; shipping purchases; internet, cable and phone services; and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year. All other purchases earn 1x points. So all payments through Plastiq are presumably being coded as internet purchases to earn the 3x rewards.

This benefit could prove extremely valuable, as the Ink Business Preferred Card is part of the Ultimate Rewards program. UR points are worth 2.1 cents each, according to TPG's most recent valuations. Try to pay your monthly utility, contractor or vehicle lease payments through Plastiq, and you could earn 3x points on hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in spending you otherwise wouldn't have collected rewards on. (Note: You can't make mortgage payments through Plastiq using a Visa card.)

One entrepreneur even recently bought a Tesla through Plastiq and earned 180,000 UR points. Those points could be worth $3,780 or more when you transfer them to an airline or hotel partner, well more than the Plastiq fee.

Even if your spending budget doesn't include a $60,000 car payment, this might be worth a look. Just remember, the 3x coding can end at any time, so be prepared to accept 1x rewards, which is valued slightly below the transaction fee Plastiq charges.