Can You Pay Rent With A Credit Card In USA
Paying your rent using a credit card has several perks. For starters, you won’t have to write a paper check and wait for it to be cashed.
It also allows you to be more flexible. If your rent is due before payday, you can use your credit card to pay for it and then reimburse yourself when your salary arrives, avoiding an embarrassing chat with your landlord about late fees. This article explains How To Pay Rent With A Credit Card In USA.
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You still have options if your landlord does not accept credit card payments. For a price, some rent payment systems may accept credit card payments. It’s convenient, but you can end up paying more than you would if you simply opened your checkbook.
How do you pay your rent with a credit card?
Several services allow tenants to make rent payments through the internet. Some of them demand your landlord’s participation, while others do not.
Plastiq
Plastiq allows you to pay your landlord using a credit card without requiring your landlord to have a Plastiq account. When you use a credit card, you pay Plastiq a fee of 2.85 percent of your payment, or 1 percent if you use a debit card. Payments can be paid manually or on a set schedule. Plastiq then writes a cheque or sends an electronic payment to your landlord.
PlacePay
Landlords must accept direct deposit via PlacePay, formerly known as RentShare.
It charges a 2.99% cost for credit card and debit card transactions, as well as a $1.95 flat fee for ACH transactions (payments made directly from your bank account). The platform enables roommates to divide rent costs and select their preferred payment method. The mobile app for iPhone and Android smartphones allows you to plan payments automatically or pay manually.
RentTrack
You can utilize RentTrack’s service, according to its website “without the involvement of your landlord We send them a paper check in the mail.” When you pay with a credit card, the fee is 2.95 percent, and when you pay with an ACH payment, the price is $6.95. When paying rent using a credit card, the service also allows tenants to extend their credit portfolio. RentTrack sends payments to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, the three major credit agencies that keep track of the data required to generate credit ratings. Before you make this feature a deciding factor, ask your landlord if he or she currently reports your rent payments to credit bureaus.
Payments of interest
If you want to save money for anything else or if you can’t afford it that month, it can be tempting to put rent on a credit card. However, if you don’t pay your credit card account in full each month, interest payments on your outstanding debt can add up quickly. When you add in the processing fee for using a credit card for convenience, your total expenditures skyrocket.
CONSEQUENCES FOR YOUR CREDIT SCORE
Paying rent using a credit card might lower your credit score by increasing your credit usage ratio, which is the ratio of your total debt to your available credit.
If you have a $10,000 credit limit and a $5,000 balance, for example, your credit utilization is 50%.
Because your credit usage ratio is a major influence in your credit score, you should try to keep it as low as possible, ideally around 30%. Putting thousands of dollars in rent on a credit card, on the other hand, can temporarily raise that ratio.
Of course, if you’re in a pinch or in an emergency and don’t have any other options, you may need to perform such a transaction. Just remember that as long as you pay your bills on time and on time, your credit score will improve.
Should you use your credit card to pay your rent?
Paying rent with a credit card can be an excellent alternative if you want flexibility and don’t want to deal with the trouble of writing checks — especially if you pay your credit card bill in full every month and earn points that can help offset the expense of convenience fees.
Putting your rent on a credit card, however, could be problematic if you have a low credit limit or an unreliable income. If you don’t pay it off on time, it could affect your credit score and your wallet. Consider the advantages and disadvantages and make the best option possible for your scenario.
