Jan 6, 2016, 5:28 pm
Last edit by: ChrisFlyer66
This is a new thread for 2016. The previous megathread on this topic is here.
The 2017 thread is here.
This thread is about prepaid debit cards from Staples. Please post questions on other topics in the appropriate threads elsewhere in this forum.
To activate cards over the phone (without activation codes), call (877) 426-2551 to talk to a rep. Post #132.
As of 5/12/2014, all known portals are dead.
*Note- max purchase at one time seems to be 9x $200 (stays under their $2000 limit)
Pluses to Online purchase:
1. Less time/effort/gasoline vs traveling to store to purchase
2. No mgr override or cashier call to Chase needed for large purchases
3. Can bulk activate by phone after receipt of VGCs
4. Email is a nice way to keep record of your purchases
5. Avoids stupid sticky gum (4x per card) that has to be peeled off of each VGC
6. Rare opportunity to liquidate rewards and/or rebate card (YMMV)
Pluses to in-store purchase:
1. No wait/immediate gratification- mail order can take weeks
2. No risk of someone getting to your mailbox to steal your VGCs before you get them out of there
3. Activated at time of purchase- no need to call in or wait for stupid letter containing one activation code/card that comes in the mail separately (the letter sometimes arrives AFTER the VGCs arrive; this can be mitigated, see Pluses to Online #3, above)
* FASTEST WAY to liquidate $20 Staples Rebate Visa GCs*
Use for purchase at Costco. The POS at Costco will auto-drain the Staples Visa GC, once you press the green button when the PIN is requested.
Then, swipe the next Staples VGC, press green and repeat! The POS is so fast, you can keep feeding 4 - 5 total $20 cards and the cashier will not even care!
The 2017 thread is here.
This thread is about prepaid debit cards from Staples. Please post questions on other topics in the appropriate threads elsewhere in this forum.
To activate cards over the phone (without activation codes), call (877) 426-2551 to talk to a rep. Post #132.
As of 5/12/2014, all known portals are dead.
- Get Chase Ink and BB/Serve
1% discount: Sign up Ink (must be Visa) at https://www.visasavingsedge.com/ to get 1% cash back at StaplesEnded 12/31/14- 5x points: Buy Visa gift cards at Staples or the website. $200 ones charge a hefty $6.95 activation fee (with 1% back it was effectively $4.88).
- Liquidate gift cards like any other
*Note- max purchase at one time seems to be 9x $200 (stays under their $2000 limit)
Pluses to Online purchase:
1. Less time/effort/gasoline vs traveling to store to purchase
2. No mgr override or cashier call to Chase needed for large purchases
3. Can bulk activate by phone after receipt of VGCs
4. Email is a nice way to keep record of your purchases
5. Avoids stupid sticky gum (4x per card) that has to be peeled off of each VGC
6. Rare opportunity to liquidate rewards and/or rebate card (YMMV)
Pluses to in-store purchase:
1. No wait/immediate gratification- mail order can take weeks
2. No risk of someone getting to your mailbox to steal your VGCs before you get them out of there
3. Activated at time of purchase- no need to call in or wait for stupid letter containing one activation code/card that comes in the mail separately (the letter sometimes arrives AFTER the VGCs arrive; this can be mitigated, see Pluses to Online #3, above)
* FASTEST WAY to liquidate $20 Staples Rebate Visa GCs*
Use for purchase at Costco. The POS at Costco will auto-drain the Staples Visa GC, once you press the green button when the PIN is requested.
Then, swipe the next Staples VGC, press green and repeat! The POS is so fast, you can keep feeding 4 - 5 total $20 cards and the cashier will not even care!
Visa Gift cards at Staples (2016)
Jun 30, 2016, 1:44 am
#406
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 1,112
That is a massive wall of text. You really should separate that into multiple paragraphs.
Look up level III data processing. Staples online has it. Some physical locations have it.
Look up level III data processing. Staples online has it. Some physical locations have it.
Jun 30, 2016, 6:54 am
#407
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 73
I have a question about spend activity. I think I may have just stumbled onto a MS unicorn that would allow me to do a lot of easy spend with Staples VGCs, making them easier to liquidate. Can anyone tell me what the transactions look like on Chase's end? Do they just appear as Staples point of sale or is there additional info about the type of transaction; i.e. Visa gift card? I applied for my card with a business claim (online auction sales) of 5k annual revenue, so I wonder if it would look suspicious to be averaging $5,000 per week in transactions at Staples; particularly if this is the ONLY activity on the card? I suppose the purpose of the product is to spend at office supply stores, so I don't see why that alone (only Staples spend) would raise any red flags, but what about transacting purchases exclusively in denominations of $100 to $300 (plus whatever nominal card fees apply) in order to diversify amounts to some degree? Would this appear to be high risk spend? I appreciate that this question is subjective and all MS activity is uncertain but what's a relatively safe yet ambitious amount to be transacting per week on VGCs with a 15K credit limit and how many of you use your cards exclusively for this purpose without putting any other "regular" spend on the account? I would never consider using my CSP (for example) on any MS exclusively without regular swipes, especially not with all transactions originating from the same point of sale. With a specialty card that's intended to be used at certain retailers (or types of businesses to be more precise) I wonder if this should be an equal concern? I imagine most small business owners would frequent office supply stores most conveniently located to their home or place of work, so weekly swipes at the same Staples (perhaps with ocassional online transactions through their dot com) should seem legit, right? I happen to live directly across the street from a Staples, conveniently. Since I'm new to the Ink card, I'm just wondering how much is too much & whether it would be advised to put some regular non-Staples spend on the card, or of that matters? Thanks for any input.
After you hit the 50k/yr Staples VGC are not worth the fee, too. Outside of this you could also get VGC online, outside of Staples.com, for a lower fee that also rings up the 5% category bonus and requires less unloading ($500 vs $300 cards).
Jun 30, 2016, 6:59 am
#408
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,061
They can see it as the previous poster mentioned. And why spend $5k/week at staples? The category limit is 50k/yr = 4.16k/month. No reason to go overboard in one month.
After you hit the 50k/yr Staples VGC are not worth the fee, too. Outside of this you could also get VGC online, outside of Staples.com, for a lower fee that also rings up the 5% category bonus and requires less unloading ($500 vs $300 cards).
After you hit the 50k/yr Staples VGC are not worth the fee, too. Outside of this you could also get VGC online, outside of Staples.com, for a lower fee that also rings up the 5% category bonus and requires less unloading ($500 vs $300 cards).
Jun 30, 2016, 8:18 am
#409
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 2,108
Thanks for the info. I must admit, I wasn't aware of the cap on earnings. That's a bit of a drag. I'm still waiting for the card to arrive, so I'm sure I would've discovered this in the t&c but this definitely changes things. That said, even doing ~ $4,160 / month, is there considerable risk if this is my only activity on the card?
Jun 30, 2016, 8:25 am
#410
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 2,108
Are you simply suggesting that I can mix things up between brick and mortar swipes and online purchases? If you're feeling generous, I'd greatly appreciate a hint about the $500 value online GCs at lower cost that still meet the category bonus. A nod in the right direction perhaps?
Thank you again!
Jun 30, 2016, 8:57 am
#411
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 34
They can see it as the previous poster mentioned. And why spend $5k/week at staples? The category limit is 50k/yr = 4.16k/month. No reason to go overboard in one month.
After you hit the 50k/yr Staples VGC are not worth the fee, too. Outside of this you could also get VGC online, outside of Staples.com, for a lower fee that also rings up the 5% category bonus and requires less unloading ($500 vs $300 cards).
After you hit the 50k/yr Staples VGC are not worth the fee, too. Outside of this you could also get VGC online, outside of Staples.com, for a lower fee that also rings up the 5% category bonus and requires less unloading ($500 vs $300 cards).
Jun 30, 2016, 10:59 am
#412
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 193
Pray tell! (especially with Cardc@$h dead)
Last edited by Jpr0930; Jun 30, 2016 at 11:45 am Reason: more context
Jul 1, 2016, 7:00 am
#415
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,303
Eh, if Chase was cracking down on ink holders for the 5% we'd see waves of posts on FT. Some guy with a blog, eh, Chase may have put him up to it for all I know of it was a one off pertaining to something else that brought forth the manual review.
Chase defines their loss at 250k UR a year, which is a couple sign up bonuses. I'd agree that doing it all in 1-2 months would be dumb, but evenly dispersing it over 12 months is what a lot of people do. But anything can come to an end at any point.
Chase defines their loss at 250k UR a year, which is a couple sign up bonuses. I'd agree that doing it all in 1-2 months would be dumb, but evenly dispersing it over 12 months is what a lot of people do. But anything can come to an end at any point.
Jul 1, 2016, 8:46 am
#416
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 11
I'd be interested in a PM about which online retailer codes as office supplies.
Jul 1, 2016, 7:00 pm
#417
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: LAS, MPL
Programs: DL Platinum, 1 MM
Posts: 1,321
I just received a promotional e-mail from Chase encouraging me to spend in the 5x categories, so they must not completely despise you if one takes advantage of it.
Jul 4, 2016, 5:57 pm
#418
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 73
Any other sources where a INK was shut down?
If you read the referenced blog you will see that he just went overboard in one month increasing his monthly throughput nine times. And two card where affected with similar upticks. See http://milesperday.com/2016/04/chase...n-my-accounts/
If you read the referenced blog you will see that he just went overboard in one month increasing his monthly throughput nine times. And two card where affected with similar upticks. See http://milesperday.com/2016/04/chase...n-my-accounts/
Jul 6, 2016, 1:30 am
#419
Suspended
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 335
Me too. The ONLY Charges on my Ink account are OD, Cable, Phone (all 5%). No problems.
Jul 7, 2016, 1:19 pm
#420
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,303
I tried to order my normal amount of VGC and I have an old staples gift card from some rebate a while ago and wanted to waste that so I tried to buy a $15 item in the same order as my typical VGC allotment and the website wouldn't let me add my staples gift card to the order to go toward the $15 item. I was doing this to try to get free shipping on the $15 item along with the VGCs. Glad to see they are making things difficult.