Paying rent with a credit card might sound like a smart way to rack up rewards, earn cashback, or simplify your finances—but is it really worth it? While the perks can be appealing, there are important factors to consider, like fees, credit card interest, and your overall budget. 

In this article, we’ll break down the pros and cons to help you decide if paying rent with a credit card is the right move for you.

Can You Pay Rent with a Credit Card?

Thanks to Chexy, you can pay rent with a credit card in Canada. Usually, landlords and property managers don’t accept credit card payments directly, but with Chexy, you can pay your rent with a credit card, earn rewards on it, and even build your credit score. 

Chexy is a rental payment platform that allows you to pay your rent using a credit or debit card while earning valuable rewards like cashback, points, or airline miles. These rewards can add up to free flights, travel upgrades, free dinners out, or even a few free grocery trips. 

While Chexy does charge a small fee, it’s relatively low compared to other payment processing services. You can use the Chexy Rewards Calculator to compare different credit cards and see how the rewards stack up. 

TL;DR: 

You are missing out on tons of potential rewards by sending your rent payments directly to your landlord via Interac e-Transfer, pre-authorized debit, cheque, or cash. Enter Chexy, where you can use your credit card and earn rewards on one of your biggest monthly expenses. 

Should I Pay Rent with a Credit Card or Debit Card?

With Chexy, you can pay rent with a credit card or debit card. In most cases, if you have a credit card that earns you rewards, you should use it. Otherwise, here are some reasons why you should pay rent with a debit card:

• You are a newcomer to Canada and don’t yet have a credit card or a high enough credit score to be approved for a credit card 

• You want to build credit on your rent payments 

• Your debit card earns rewards (like the Scotiabank Scene+ debit card)

You can still earn rewards and build your credit score on your timely rent payments, even though you’re not using a credit card. Just ensure you can offset the Chexy fees to make it worth it. 

On the other hand, you should pay rent with your credit card as long as you use it responsibly and pay off the balance in full on time. 

Pros and Cons of Paying Rent with a Credit Card

Here are a few of the many benefits of paying rent with a credit card in Canada, as well as two downsides you should consider:

Benefits of Paying Rent with a Credit Card

Earn Rewards: The biggest and best advantage of paying rent with a credit card is earning rewards. Depending on your credit card, you can earn points, cashback, or airline miles that you can turn into free flights, hotel bookings, travel upgrades, and so much more. 

Most credit cards also offer a generous welcome bonus of thousands of extra points, which you can easily get just by paying your rent. 

Build Credit: You can opt into Chexy’s Credit Builder for free and report your on-time rent payments to Equifax, one of Canada’s largest credit bureaus. Paying your rent on time every month contributes to a higher credit score, allowing you to get better credit cards and apply for various financial products in the future.

Automatic Payments: No matter if rent day falls on a weekday, weekend, or holiday, you don’t have to worry about manually sending the payment to your landlord. Chexy charges your credit card 4 business days before rent is due and automatically sends it to your landlord on the due date. 

Rent Splitting: Long gone are the days when you had to chase your roommates for their share of the rent. With Chexy’s rent splitting feature, every roommate’s share of the rent is combined and sent to your landlord all in one payment. 

Chexy Wallet: With Chexy’s newest feature, you can now pay your rent and most of your bills with your credit card–all in one place. You can earn points or cashback and connect up to 5 different credit cards (currently only available for active Chexy paying users).

No Need to Tell Your Landlord: There is essentially no difference between you paying your rent directly to your landlord vs Chexy sending the e-Transfer or PAD payment on your behalf. You don’t need to tell your landlord; they don’t need to get involved or do any background checks. 

Maximizes Your Cash Flow: If you need a little extra time to pay rent, using a credit card gives you about an extra month. However, you must pay off your credit card balance in full by the due date to avoid interest and late fees. 

Additional Perks: You can get pre-approved for a mortgage with HomeWise if you’re considering buying a home sometime soon. If you’re a renter, you can get affordable tenant insurance coverage with Walnut. 

These are just a few of the additional perks in your Chexy Dashboard. 

Downsides of Paying Rent with a Credit Card 

Fees: Chexy charges different fees depending on which card you use: 

• Visa and American Express: 1.75%

• International credit cards: 2.5%

• Debit cards: free

Using a higher-tier credit card that earns you rewards will essentially offset the Chexy fees. For example, the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card earns you 4% cashback on rent, meaning you’ll come out with a net of 2.25% cashback. 

If you’re wondering how to pay rent with your credit card without fees, you’re in luck. Sign up for a credit card through Chexy, and you’ll get the fees waived for your first month! 

Keep in mind that other bill payment services, like Plastiq, charge upwards of 2.9% to use their bill payment service–much more than Chexy. 

It Could Lower Your Credit Score: As with all big purchases you put on your credit card, you need to ensure you can pay off your balance in full every month. If you don’t, you’ll incur interest and potential late fees, and your credit score could drop. 

By keeping track of your spending and paying off your balance regularly, you are a responsible credit card user, and your credit score will not be affected. 

Is Paying Rent with a Credit Card Worth It? 

All in all, paying rent with a credit card for points, cashback, or miles is totally worth it. You’ll just need to consider a few things:

1. Use a credit card that earns you rewards to offset the Chexy fee. For example, using an American Express Platinum card on a monthly rent of $2,000 will get you about 24,000 points per year. After the fees, you’ll earn net rent rewards of about $108. This doesn’t include the welcome bonus points you can easily earn with rent and everyday purchases. 

If you need help deciding which credit card is best to use, check out the Rewards Calculator. 

2. Pay off your credit card balance in full by the due date each month. To make paying rent with your credit card worth it, you need to use it responsibly and ensure that rent is always covered in your budget. If you incur late fees, interest, or other charges, this will negate your rewards. 

As long as you understand those two points, go for it! Sign up for Chexy and earn rewards on one of your largest monthly expenses. 

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