MilesBuzz! - Best way to confirm a credit card transaction isn't 'cash'

I am anticipating receipt of my new Gold A/X Delta card that will earn triple miles in October http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Question: I know the property tax transaction will show up as a 'charge' and not cash because I have done that before w/Citibank for miles... What is the best way to confirm that a mortgage payment transaction (if they will even accept the credit card as payment) is posted as a CHARGE and not cash?

Thanks for any help http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by ALadyNCal (edited 09-16-2002).]

[This message has been edited by ALadyNCal (edited 09-16-2002).]

do you ever need to use that card for cash advances?? if not, call them and lower the cash advance limit to $0-- or maybe a rate slightly lower than your mortgage. if it was treated like a cash advance, then the transaction would not go through. obviously, you'd want to test this well before the payment is due, so that you can pay through another method if the charge is denied by the credit card company.

i think you're in the clear though, as government bonds are always considered a purchase. only problem i can think of is if Citibank holds both your mortgage and your credit card in question, and won't allow you to use the credit card period for your mortgage, since that would basically be an "in-house" transaction.

Thanks for the help.

Just to clarify, I would be trying to charge the mortgage payments on AMERICAN EXPRESS next month (for the miles promotion).

Your mortgage co. takes credit cards?! That's cool http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

ALadyNCal:

What the mortgage company are you with?
I looked around and wasn't able to find one which takes credit cards. Thanks



[This message has been edited by palex (edited 09-16-2002).]

I was being premature...wondering whether I should take the mortgage company's word or American Express's word that "IF" the mortgage company would accept AX for payment....would it go thru as a cash advance or as a charge transaction.

Didn't mean to get everyone's hopes up http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif I have not called the mortgage company yet to confirm if they will accept it.

I will call this week + post back if I get good news http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by ALadyNCal (edited 09-16-2002).]

I tried to set my cash advance limit on my FirstUSA United card to 0 and they wouldn't do it! Claimed it couldn't be done, even though I've had no problem doing it with Citibank cards. They got all the supervisors together and still claimed it couldn't be done, they gave me to customer service address to write to and see if they could do something. What a horrible company to work with!

But you can lower it to it's minimum which might be $10 or $100. Lower it as far as it will go if they can't do 0.

------------------
Ms.DtG

I think EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW WHAT MORTGAGE COMPANY TAKES A CREDIT CARD. please don't post something like that without checking it out first.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ALadyNCal:
Thanks for the help.

Just to clarify, I would be trying to charge the mortgage payments on AMERICAN EXPRESS next month (for the miles promotion).</font>

Yes like pervious FTs said all u have to do is lower your cash advance limit and that way you will be sure that it's a charge!


[This message has been edited by afang (edited 09-16-2002).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Sig:
= What a horrible company to work with!</font>


I hear you..unfortunately, i have been using Firstusa for many years before I saw light and canceled!

Mortgage & Credit Card.

Mapwife and I are undergoing a refinance with Merrill-Lynch Credit. They ASKED for a Credit card for part of the Closing Costs. Will check to see if I can continue using it to make the payments.

And my VoiceStream Wireless asked if I wanted to pay with CC!

Miles, Miles, need more Miles! D*** Airline Crack Dealers

I have two mortgages, and neither bank will take my credit card -- unless it's a "cash advance," with no ff miles. Same with buying money orders at the post office. And the DWP charges me a $6 credit card fee when I pay that way. They don't make it easy on ya.

------------------
You don't grow old until you've lost all your marvels.

I called c2it to ask them how to make sure a transaction would be treated as a purchase and not as a cash advance. They gave their merchant code for visa and mc, and said to call the credit card number and ask giving the code. If your merchant takes AMEX you could do the same - ask the mortgage company their merchant code and then call AMEX and see what they say. I called my MBNA Visa - and they treat C2it transactions as a cash advance. (not that I would have used them - just wanted to experience the procedure of how to find out).

------------------
Ms.DtG

dgordon could you post the merchant code for Visa? Thanks

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by dgordon:
I called c2it to ask them how to make sure a transaction would be treated as a purchase and not as a cash advance. They gave their merchant code for visa and mc, and said to call the credit card number and ask giving the code. If your merchant takes AMEX you could do the same - ask the mortgage company their merchant code and then call AMEX and see what they say. I called my MBNA Visa - and they treat C2it transactions as a cash advance. (not that I would have used them - just wanted to experience the procedure of how to find out).</font>

This is the only reliable procedure. Others have suggested that you lower your cash advance limit to $0 as a protection against accidental advances, but this will not always work for a couple of reasons:

- The bank is not under an obligation to enforce the credit limit. It specifically says in the cardholder agreement that the bank may from time to time approve transactions above the established credit limit. If it's a legitimate transaction (that is, one you initiated or authorized, and not a fraudulent one), then you're on the hook, even if it goes over your limit (for the transaction amount and any overlimit fee). Put another way, the credit limit is a mechanism for the bank to limit their credit exposure, not a budgeting tool for you to use.

- Even if a merchant presents a transaction as a purchase, most cardholder agreements allow the bank to re-characterize the transaction as a cash advance, if your bank determines that it's the nature of what you received. For example, let's say I put out my shingle as Steve M's Cash Advance Service. Using a standard merchant account, I offer you cash against your credit card. I pay my bank a 5% discount rate, and charge you a 25% surcharge for my service, and just give you cash. That is, if you want $100, I charge $125 to your credit card, and the bank pays me $118.75. Setting aside the fact that my bank probably wouldn't let me do this, if your bank found out what I was doing, it could treat these transactions as cash advances, even though I submit them as purchases to the settlement network and pay a discount rate. This wasn't the case 10 years ago, but it certainly is the case now. What the banks are trying to do is make sure that they don't leave open any loopholes that allow you to easily get cash out of your account without them knowing about it and limiting this type of use.

Worse possibilities when deliberately "testing" by using a 0 limit:

A bank that has a fee for exceeding your credit limit could both put the charge through and charge you for exceeding the limit.

Some financial institutions here will charge a fee when an electronic payment fails, just as they would if you gave them a cheque that bounced. So, the mortgage company tries to gain payment in the way you specified, it gets bounced, so they charge you a bounce fee.

There are way too many ways this can go wrong. Just ask the merchant how it's treated, if it's not obvious.

(For those who may be interested, Australia has an almost ubiquitous electronic payments system, BPay, and all companies accepting payments through it are listed on their web site, along with what payment methods are accepted. Makes it really easy here.)

The merchant codes
VISA is 4829
MC is 6529
Sorry that I didn't post it in the previous post.
Also, anyone who finds out about their particular card, please post.

------------------
Ms.DtG