ChargeSmartPhilip

Payments on ChargeSmart are a normal purchase - not a cash advance.

96MustangGT

Are you getting charged cash advance fees because you used the pin? Or is this pulling money direct from your bank account?

mserle

This DOES NOT work.
The T&C's of the BOA debit card say:
"Quasi-cash transactions, which are transactions convertible to cash and
include the purchase of money orders, travelers checks, foreign currency,
cashier’s checks, gaming chips, and other similar instruments and things
of value" do not earn miles.
http://www.bankofamerica.com/deposit...eckcards_usair

garimell

Yes, to second the quote from the horse's mouth, I recently made my mortgage payment via ChargeSmart using my Citi AAdvantage MC and it was tagged as a purchase by Citi. The whole process was very smooth and the payment posted within a couple of business days.

ChargeSmart charged a flat transaction fee of $24.95 and then a "large transaction security fee" (sort of their insurance against fraud) of $38.74 for my mortgage payment of $2,565.18. I know that the fee seems huge but, at roughly 2.4 cents per mile, I'll take it given how far the (AAdvantage) miles can take me, literally (international travel in particular using OneWorld awards)!

Also, from trial-and-error, I found that there'd be no large transaction fee for a payment amount under $1,100. ChargeSmartPhilip, is that accurate?

rrgg

OK, but I think in the latest promotion you can buy miles directly from AA at a better rate.

To me, the fee could be worth it if it helps meet some CC spending threshold.

4Health

That transaction fee would be a deal killer for me. It explains on their website that it is for insurance to cover higher value transactions.

Ritz

Is this a "hold" or a refundable fee? I don't understand the concept of a security "fee", as it would cover a charge not going through, as you say, but when it does, wouldn't the fee be released/refunded??

Or are we talking essentially another fee that they've just lent a BS name to?

garimell

It was definitely not refunded for me. It is indeed to pay their insurance premiums to cover any potential loss (not just from my transaction but overall). Let's see if Phillip from ChargeSmart says something about it.

Boraxo

I just checked my mortgage and it works out to .003 per mile - which would definitely be worth it! ^

At what point in the process can you determine if there is a "large transaction fee"? If indeed it covers all payment >$1100 that would kill the deal

My car payment clocks in at .014 per mile, not really worth it though I guess cheaper than buying miles if you really need them.

garimell

The Large Payment Security Fee shows up in "STEP 4: REVIEW" before actually submitting the payment.

It does seem to cover all payments > $1,100. Starts at $5.21 for a payment of $1,101 and keeps going up based on what formula, I don't know...

rrgg

I'd like to see them post a fee schedule on the website. Then I'll know who to choose for refinancing.

ChargeSmartPhilip

Purchases on ChargeSmart are not categorized as "quasi-cash." As mentioned previously, and as seen by garimell, ChargeSmart transactions are treated as traditional retail purchases.

ChargeSmartPhilip

The threshold at which the security fee kicks in varies according to the company you're paying. The primary factor used to determine how and when to apply the large payment security fee is the average payment amount to that particular biller on ChargeSmart. This number fluctuates and will cause the fee to be applied accordingly.

Regarding the distinction of "fee" vs. "deposit" (that would presumably be returned) the large payment security fee is a fee. Just as insurance premiums aren't returned, nor is this.

We are aware that fees are the primary reason that someone elects to not make a payment with us, and are making every effort to reduce our fees in time. If it made sense from a business standpoint, we'd remove them altogether, but unfortunately that's not the case...

WorldTravelGeek

I have a mortgage with Wells Fargo too... I can't figure out how to do this. Would you mind sharing with us how you went about this?

Thanks!

Ritz

LOL. Well you had me up until that clarification. Passing your chargeback issues onto your customers is ridiculous. And since you don't accept Amex, which explained on YOUR OWN SITE, is the primary chargeback offender against you (initiated from the cardholder, of course), you explanation doesn't hold water. At least not to me. I was ready to throw 2 mortgages and 3 vehicles worth of payments your way, totaling over $11K/month...and I was willing to forego using my Amex Cent card to make said payments since you don't accept Amex, and put it on my CitiAAPreferred Mastercard. BUT charging your service fee as a fee - and then imposing a 2nd much shadier, uncalled for, deceptively titled, and improperly imposed fee on your customer makes me not want to do business with ChargeSmart. Further, I'm going to have to advise my longtime FT friends, not to mention my miles/points obsessed clients, family and friends to avoid your service as well.

You see, even if the 2nd "security" fee was a dollar, that would be $1 too much, since you're already imposing your business service fee to begin with. I'd rather you raise that fee and make it all inclusive - but to charge that 2nd ridiculous fee and institute an even more ludicirous method of calculation based on the "amount of payments processed to that company" in any given month borders on hilarity - if for no other reason then you can't see how many potential customers you're actually alienating with it.

I was actually one of the first on FT to push the concept of Card-It back in the day, but Phillip, this 2nd fee for ChargeSmart is just absolutely ill-conceived, now that you've "fully" explained it.