Did you know you could set up recurring bill payments with your credit card and earn rewards on your monthly payments? This strategy can help you stay on top of your bills while earning valuable rewards, such as up to 4% cash back or points for free flights. 

In this post, we’ll dive into all the benefits of paying recurring bills with your credit card, how you can do so, and the best credit cards for the job. 

What Are Recurring Bills?

Recurring bills are charged automatically to your credit or debit card or as a direct debit from your bank account. Think phone plan, internet, Netflix subscription, gym membership, and even rent payments.

What bills can you pay with your credit card?

You can pay most bills with your credit card, including:

• Phone bill

• Internet bill

• Insurance 

• Streaming subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify, etc.) 

• Rent (with Chexy)

Yes, you can even pay your rent with your credit card in Canada! All you need to do is link your credit card to the Chexy app and you’ll start earning rewards on one of your biggest monthly expenses. 

When paying bills with your credit card, keep an eye on your balance and ensure you don’t go over your credit limit. Always pay your bill in full and on time every month so you don’t start accumulating interest! 

Here’s Why You Should Pay Recurring Bills With a Credit Card 

Using a credit card to pay your recurring bills can be a great idea, for these reasons:

Earn Rewards

Most credit cards nowadays earn points, cashback, or some other type of rewards. The more you spend on your credit card, the more you’ll get rewarded. 

For example, you could get 4% cash back on recurring bills with the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card. Let’s say your monthly rent payment is $1,500. If you pay rent with Chexy using this card, you could get $60 cash back every month (before Chexy fees). You’ll get $405 back each year! 

If you use a rewards credit card that gives you points for each purchase, you could rack up the points and be on your way to earning free flights, hotel stays, and more. 

Build Credit 

By paying your recurring bills with a credit card and paying it off in full every month, your credit score will increase over time, as the credit bureaus will see that you’re using your credit cards responsibly and not occurring any debt. 

Another way to easily build your credit is by reporting your rent payments to the credit bureaus. By doing so, you’re contributing data to your credit profile and building your credit score without taking on any debt. 

The easiest way to do this is by opting into Chexy’s Credit Builder feature, which automatically reports your rent payments to Equifax. This will diversify your credit mix and show your timely payment history, factors that contribute to a high credit score. 

Ensure On-Time Payments 

Setting up recurring bill payments with your credit card is a one-and-done situation. All you need to do is set it up once, and your credit card will automatically be charged the same amount each month. 

This way, you won’t have to keep track of multiple due dates for all your bills–ensuring you don’t miss a single payment. If you choose to pay your rent with your credit card using Chexy, you’ll be charged four days before rent day, so you never forget, and your landlord will stay happy. 

Expense Tracking 

If you pay most of your bills on the same credit card, you can easily see all of your transactions and expenses in one place. This makes budgeting and expense tracking that much easier. 

On the other hand, here are some reasons why you should NOT put recurring bill payments on your credit card…

Read the fine print of your credit card and ensure it doesn’t treat recurring bills as cash advances or charge any fees. Most of the time, fees are not worth the convenience unless the rewards you earn will be higher than the fee. Also, take a look at your bills and ensure they won’t charge you for using a credit card. 

Ensure you can pay back all of those bills you put on your credit card. If you struggle with overspending or don’t have a lot of money in your chequing account at times, it might not be the best idea to use a credit card as you may start to accumulate interest.

Photo by PiggyBank on Unsplash

How to Save on Recurring Bill Payments 

With Chexy, you can bundle your rent payments with your tenant insurance, Wi-Fi, and phone plan. If you pay for your rent with at least one of these services, you’ll pay less in Chexy fees, plus get better deals on your services. As rent is already so high, lowering the 1.75% - 3% fee by any amount can really make a difference. 

To bundle your services, log into your Chexy account and go to the Rewards section. You can add Telus (Wi-Fi and phone) or tenant insurance with Walnut. Adding one of these reduces your Chexy fee by 0.1%, so if you add one, your fee goes from 1.75% to 1.65%. If you add all 3, it will go down from 1.75% to 1.55%. 

Best Credit Cards for Recurring Bills

These three credit cards are the best in Canada for recurring bills, earning you points, travel rewards, and up to 4% cashback. 

Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card

Our pick for the best cashback credit card in Canada, the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card gets you 4% cash back on recurring bill payments. Yes, you heard that right–you could earn so much cash back just for paying rent and other bills! 

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of how much cash back you can earn:

• 4% on groceries and recurring payments 

• 2% on gas and daily transit 

• 1% on everything else 

This credit card also often has a generous welcome bonus. At the time of writing, you can earn 10% cash back on all purchases (up to $2,000) in the first three months of using the card. 

American Express SimplyCash Preferred Card

Another top contender for the best credit card for recurring bills is the American Express SimplyCash Preferred Card, which earns you an unlimited amount of 2% cash back on everything–including recurring bills. 

Besides that, you can earn an elevated 4% cash back on gas and grocery purchases. This credit card has travel insurance and shopping coverage, as well as a welcome bonus that can earn you up to $400 in statement credits (at the time of writing). 

American Express Cobalt Card

The American Express Cobalt Card is another great choice if you spend a lot on streaming services. You can earn 3x the Membership Rewards points for every dollar spent on eligible streaming subscriptions, including Netflix, Disney Plus, and Spotify. Plus, earn 5x the points on dining out at restaurants and food delivery. 

You can also earn:

• 5x the points on restaurants and food delivery

• 2x the points on travel and transit 

• 1x the points on everything else

What’s great about the Cobalt card is that you earn Membership Rewards points, which you can use for so many different rewards, including transferring the points to your favourite airline rewards program and getting free flights! 

How to Pay Recurring Bills With a Credit Card

To use your credit card to pay rent with Chexy in Canada, all you need to do is create an account and choose the card you want to use. Your credit card will be charged a few days before your rent is due and will be sent via e-Transfer to your landlord. You get some awesome rewards, and your landlord gets their rent payment. It’s as easy as that! 

For other recurring bills, you’ll generally need to add your credit card as a payment method and set up the recurring bill payment.

For example, if you’re renting in BC and want to pay BC Hydro with your credit card, you’ll need to log into your account and set up recurring payments with Paymentus. Here’s more info on how you can pay your bill. 

Get started with Chexy today to start earning rewards on your rent payments. 

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