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Plastiq is an online bill-pay service that allows you to use a credit card for just about anything. Contractors, rent, tuition; you name it, and Plastiq pays it (with your card). But spoiler alert — this comes at a cost.
The service has been through some ups and downs over the last several years. But for better or for worse, it's still alive and kicking in 2025. So, we figure it's time to take another look to see if using Plastiq ever makes sense.
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What Is Plastiq?
Plastiq allows you to pay nearly any bill — including rent, mortgage, and tuition — with a credit card. Specifically, if a business, institution, or person has provided you with a good or service in the U.S. or Canada, you can send them a payment. The recipient need not even have a Plastiq account!
That means even the usual “sorry, no cards” expenses can still earn you credit card rewards. Better yet, now you can use those same expenses to help you complete your next sign-up bonus!
Related: How Does a Credit Card Sign-Up Bonus Work?
How Plastiq Works
Using Plastiq is easy:
- Create an account with Plastiq, which you can do here.
- Select a business that’s already in Plastiq's system or choose to add your own.
- Pick a card (American Express, Visa, Discover, Mastercard, and Diners Club are accepted) and add it to your Plastiq account. You may save as many cards as you want in your Plastiq account profile. Additionally, you can add bank accounts as payment methods, although I'm not sure why you'd want to.
- Create a payment with the account number on the bill, the amount due, and the payment date. You can even schedule payments for the future or make recurring payments of the same amount.
- Your payment is guaranteed to arrive on time in the form of a check or bank transfer.
Plastiq payments can be made either by sending a check or processing a bank transfer. Bank transfers are best, as they're sent electronically and typically arrive within three business days. The downside is that you will need to know the recipient's bank information to set this up.
If you don't know your recipient's bank information, then a mailed check it is. These are sent via standard postal service and should arrive within eight business days. Plastiq even offers you a calendar asking when the payment is due, allowing them to figure out when to send the payment. And if you're in a pinch, there are also options for expedited payments with overnight and two-day express deliveries available.
And what if Plastiq misses your payment due date? I'm glad you asked. Assuming you submitted the payment on time and with the correct due date, Plastiq will cover 100% of any late fees incurred on that payment.
Card type restrictions on certain Plastiq payments
The concept of Plastiq is simple. However, it's important to point out that not all payments can be made with all credit card types.
As of September 2025, Plastiq accepts Mastercard, Visa, Discover, Diners Club, and American Express cards. Of those, American Express is by far the least accepted, based on purchase category type. You can find a detailed chart available here to see which bills can be paid with which credit card types. It's long, so here's a list of some exclusions for popular bill types:
- Landscaping: Not American Express
- Vehicle Loans: Not Visa credit (only debit) and not American Express
- Mortgage: Not American Express, not Visa credit (only debit), and some Mastercard debit cards are blocked
- Rent: All cards, but you might need to provide a copy of your lease
- Student loans: Not American Express, not Visa credit (only debit), some Mastercard debit cards are blocked
- Tax payments: All cards
- Timeshare: Not American Express
- Tuition: All cards
- Utilities: All cards (except American Express for telecom, internet, and phone services)
As you can see, these limitations for certain transaction categories are a definite downside. So, before you decide to use a bill to meet a spending requirement or welcome offer, be sure to check if your card type is accepted.
Plastiq Service Fees
As you'd expect, there is a service fee associated with payments sent via Plastiq. It is a business, after all.
Recipients pay nothing to receive payments with Plastiq. But senders pay fees, which are outlined here.
- Credit and debit card payments: 2.9% fee
- Delivery fees:
- EFT/ACH/billpay: 99 cents
- Mailed check: $1.49
- Domestic wire: $8.99
- International wire: $39
For our purposes, we're obviously focusing on payments with a credit card. These will incur a 2.9% fee. For comparison, PayPal charges 2.9% + $0.30 to send money with your credit card as a source (not purchases, but bill pay / person-to-person payments). So, when it comes to fees, they’re roughly the same.
You'll also incur a nominal delivery fee per payment, depending on the method. If your vendor is compatible, the best deal is for ACH, at only 99 cents per payment. However, the primary method for most Plastiq payments is via mailed check, which costs $1.49 per payment.
Is it all worth it? We'll explore that more in a bit.
Payments Plastiq Doesn't Allow
Plastiq will not allow you to send a payment to yourself or your spouse — at least, directly. You also can't make any type of payment initiated for the sake of sending money. A legitimate good or service must be provided, and Plastiq may request proof of such good or service. And if you can't provide them with such proof, Plastiq may freeze your account and block further payments to that vendor. (Or … so I've heard.)
Is Plastiq Worth the Fee?
This is the ultimate question we hope to address here, although the answer may differ for every scenario. But since we care most about credit card payments, let’s zero in on that 2.9% fee. We’ll use that as our baseline.
Purchase category
Before we start doing math, there's one thing we should note first. Most Plastiq payments tend to show as “business services” or “miscellaneous” on your credit card statement. (Although you may sometimes see some surprising classifications — like “utilities” for a mortgage payment.)
What does that mean? It means payments typically won't trigger any credit card bonus category for spending. Therefore, it makes sense to use a card that offers a strong return on everyday spending.
Two terrific examples might include Citi Double Cash® Card (Rates & Fees) or Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.
- Earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time.
Plus, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked with Citi Travel.
- 10X miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles per $1 on flights when booking via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on vacation rentals booked via Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per $1 on all other eligible purchases
But when would using Plastiq really make sense?
Use Plastiq to meet a minimum spending requirement
Using Plastiq can help you meet minimum spending requirements when they're otherwise out of reach. And to me, that's still its strongest use case.
Let's use the current welcome bonus for the new Chase-issued Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ (Rates & Fees) as an example. This card currently offers a massive 200,000 bonus points after you spend $30,000 on purchases in your first 6 months from account opening.
That welcome bonus may look tempting, but the high spending requirement can be a hurdle for many small business owners. After all, not every business racks up enough monthly charges to hit that target.
However, if you factor in expenses like landscaping, building maintenance, commercial rent, or 1099 contractors — all payable through Plastiq with a Visa credit card — meeting the requirement becomes much more realistic.
For example, let's say a small business owner currently incurs $2,500/month in normal, business credit card expenses. After six months, that business owner would accumulate $18,000 of spending, or $12,000 short of the Sapphire Reserve Business‘ spending requirement. But if that same business owner spends $2,000/month on commercial rent, using Plastiq for six months would bring the welcome bonus within reach! Even better, it would only cost the business around $357 to do it.
Considering that the cash-out value of 200,000 Ultimate Rewards points is $2,000, then spending $357 to earn it probably makes sense. Rinse and repeat, and soon you'll rack up far more credit card welcome bonuses each year.
- Earn 200,000 bonus points after you spend $30,000 on purchases in your first 6 months from account opening and with more than $2,500 in annual value, there's no competition.
- Earn 8x points on Chase Travel℠ for airline tickets, hotels, including The Edit℠, car rentals, cruises, activities and tours.
- Earn 5x total points on Lyft rides through 9/30/27.
- Earn 4x points on flights & hotels booked direct.
- Earn 3x points on social media & search engine advertising.
- Get the most flexible travel credit compared to any other card, with up to $300 in statement credits each anniversary year on travel purchases.
- Enjoy complimentary access to the Chase Sapphire Lounge® by The Club network and Priority Pass™ Select membership. Two guests may accompany the Primary Cardmember to the lounges free of charge.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 8X points on all Chase Travel℠ purchases
- 5X total points on eligible Lyft rides through 9/30/2027
- 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly
- 3x points on advertising purchases made with social media platforms and search engines
- 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases
Other uses for Plastiq
Beyond welcome bonuses, Plastiq presents relatively limited value, in my opinion. The 2.9%+ fee incurred when using a credit card means the value of earned rewards (without a bonus) likely won't outweigh the cost.
Historically, there used to be a few scenarios where ongoing Plastiq payments could present value, if not profit. For example, certain debit (or … ahem … debit-like) cards previously incurred a lower, 1% cost. This fee was much easier to overcome with a rewards-earning credit or debit card. Additionally, Plastiq previously offered occasional promotions allowing customers to make payments with little or no cost.
Unfortunately, both of those seem to be a thing of the past. But that doesn't mean there aren't other opportunities that we're unaware of. Know another scenario where Plastiq makes sense beyond welcome bonuses or large spending thresholds? Let us know in the comments.
Plastiq vs. Bilt: Paying Rent with a Credit Card
Pay rent with a credit card, you say? Enter Bilt Rewards, the relative newcomer to the points‑and‑miles world.
With Bilt, the pitch is simple: no transaction fees on rent. Since rent is one of the primary bills that makes Plastiq useful, it’s worth comparing the two to see whether Plastiq still holds value now that a no‑fee option exists.
A few key things to know about Bilt:
- Bilt only works for rent. Other bills still require Plastiq.
- To avoid fees, your landlord must be part of the Bilt Rewards Alliance, and you must pay through the app.
- If not, you’ll need to use The Bilt Mastercard® (Rates & Fees), which caps rent‑earned Bilt Points at 100,000 per year.
- Without five monthly transactions on the Bilt Mastercard, you’ll earn only 250 Bilt Points on rent payments; with five, you’ll earn 1 Point per $1.
You must use the card 5 times each statement period to earn points—see Rewards & Benefits
That said, the comparison comes down to the following decision factors:
- Can you meet a new card’s minimum spend without Plastiq? If yes, Bilt saves you fees.
- Is this ongoing spend without a signup bonus? If yes, Plastiq’s fees likely outweigh the value.
- Would you rather earn Bilt Rewards — or another points currency that better fits your travel goals?
Bottom line: For long‑term rent payments without a welcome bonus in play, Bilt usually wins. But if you need Plastiq to hit a spend requirement or diversify your rewards, it still earns a spot.
Bottom Line
Plastiq remains an excellent resource that enables credit card payments when a merchant does not typically accept credit cards. But it's not without its flaws, including fees that limit its value beyond earning a welcome bonus.
Nevertheless, if you find yourself short on your spending requirement (or simply want to capture the spending potential of paying your rent), Plastiq is still worth considering. Just ensure you're not paying more for those points than they're worth.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Citi Double Cash® Card (Rates & Fees), and Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ (Rates & Fees)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
