Setting up Credits to Pay Utilities and Recurring Charges

[thomastran40]

For the longest we have been paying all our bills using bill pay but would like to move all our recurring charges over to a credit card for additional cashback savings.

Any mistakes, optimization tips or advice would greatly appreciated.

[disneysteve]

I've been doing that for years. It is a great way to rack up reward points for bills that you have to pay anyway. We pay land and cell phone bills, cable/internet, auto insurance, alarm company, and more.

[kork13]

I've been doing that for years. It is a great way to rack up reward points for bills that you have to pay anyway. We pay land and cell phone bills, cable/internet, auto insurance, alarm company, and more.

Ditto. I've been trying to charge as many recurring bills as possible to my CC, unless doing so would trigger processing fees. Right now my internet, cell phone, & auto insurance are about the only ones I can do right now, unfortunately. At one point, however, I was able to put my monthly rent for my apartment on my credit card.... Bookoo cash back.

[Like2Plan]

Any mistakes, optimization tips or advice would greatly appreciated.

I've been doing this for a while, too. There are a couple of downsides. One is that it is the convenience can sometimes lull you you into a false sense of security--you have to be very vigilant and follow up with checking the online bill and making sure the charges are correct and that the bill has posted to the CC account properly. Soemtimes, the CC reaches its expiration date and you have to update it with the billing company or the bill won't post to your CC.
The second downside is related to the first--that is if your CC is compromised, you have to set up the autobills to the new CC account. I don't completely understand why, but it seems there sometimes is a one month lag to getting it set up properly. So, in the meantime you have to make manual payments until you can verify the bills have posted to your CC.

[fe2o3ez]

...you have to be very vigilant and follow up with checking the online bill and making sure the charges are correct and that the bill has posted to the CC account properly.

This is very important. Keep an eye on the charges the same as you would any other bill payment. Make sure you pay the correct amount so as to not incur interest, or it will counteract the benefit you earn through cash and points back.

I just finished my first year on my bank-mortgage card. Earned a "free" $600 over that time period that posted directly against my mortgage principal, simply by doing what you describe above.

[greenskeeper]

The good old days were when you could pay the mortgage payment with a credit card....those days are gone for me as CC companies have cracked down on that.

[adpiterp]

I do the same! I pay cell phone, cable/internet, home insurance, electric, etc all on my credit card and pay it off entirely each month. Yay free points/cash back!

The only thing to look out for is some companies charge a "convenience fee" for them to process a CC. My water company charges a fee, so I just write them a check.

And this one is obvious, but if you (universal use of "you") don't plan on paying off the card in full every month, the interest would offset any points/cash back benefit you get from paying with your card.