Apr 9, 2014, 10:37 pm
Last edit by: sechs
Please read the wiki before posting a question.
2/25/2015 - Single payment limit raised to $2999 when using credit or debit cards. Maximum payments per calendar month per individual biller account raised from 1 to 4.
2/18/2015 - Beginning next week, certain debit cards from smaller banks, as well as prepaid debit cards and gift cards will be subject to a 3 percent Bill Pay Fee on each payment.
Evolve now accepts Discover, Visa and Mastercard credit cards with 3% fee.
Debit Cards Not Charged the 3% Fee:
Transaction Limits:
http://www.evolvemoney.com/transaction-limits/
Daily dollar limits include:
Individual bill pay dollar limits include:
Monthly payment limits include:
The limits are based on charge date, not payment date.
There are currently no credit cards that can be paid via Evolve.
Tips for Using Evolve
Mortgages Section
Let us know if payments auto apply to principal or if you have to call
Bank of America: After making 4 payments over the weekend you MUST call (or use online banking messaging) to allocate funds to the regular payment - by default it goes to principal.
Central Mortgage: Appears to go to additional principal payment. YMMV
Chase: Payments with JPMorgan have to fall within a ~5-day window in order for them to be unallocated, otherwise they go to principal. Your window depends on the billing date (usually the 1st of the month). If so, the window is until the 5th, so using Evolve, you have to allow for the payment to post and have it post between ~the 1st and the 5th. PITA
Citi: Made two payments near the end of the month and these were originally "unapplied" and labeled as "additional funds received". A day or two afterwards they moved to principal payments. A quick call to Citi had the payments moved from principal to make up my monthly mortgage payment.
Nationstar Mortgage: Payment applied as an "Additional principal payment" if you sent before the 1st of the month. If you pay after the first, the payment is held until you submit the full payment amount, and then the whole thing is applied to your monthly payment.
PNC: Partial payments will be held aside until payment in full is made. They will send a letter.
Provident Funding: Does not accept partial payments. After month's mortgage is paid, accepts Evolve a additional principal payments.
US Bank: Made 4 payments in June; after a couple of days, payments moved from principal payment to applying to monthly payment w/o a call
Wells Fargo: Two $500 payments day 1, One $500 payment day 2 going over the actual mortgage payment amount due. The payment automatically combined itself to pay the exact amount due once the Third hit. Any amount that was overpaid subsequently went towards principal. Nice to not have to send in the Exact amount, if you don't mind paying some extra principal.
"If you have any problems with gift cards please send us an email at support [at] evolvemoney.com" [Source: AlexAtEvolveMoney]
2/25/2015 - Single payment limit raised to $2999 when using credit or debit cards. Maximum payments per calendar month per individual biller account raised from 1 to 4.
2/18/2015 - Beginning next week, certain debit cards from smaller banks, as well as prepaid debit cards and gift cards will be subject to a 3 percent Bill Pay Fee on each payment.
Evolve now accepts Discover, Visa and Mastercard credit cards with 3% fee.
Debit Cards Not Charged the 3% Fee:
- Insert here
- US Bank (but not prepaid)
Transaction Limits:
http://www.evolvemoney.com/transaction-limits/
Daily dollar limits include:
- $2,999.00 in payments funded by a debit card and/or credit card
- $999.00 in payments funded by a cash load pack
Individual bill pay dollar limits include:
- $2999.00 for a single bill funded by a debit card and/or credit card
- $999.00 for a single bill funded by a cash load pack
Monthly payment limits include:
- 4 payments per month using a credit or debit card within the dollar limits listed above.
- Unlimited number of payments per month using a cash load pack within the dollar limits listed above.
- Maximum of $10,000 total payments per month for credit, debit, and cash load packs combined.
The limits are based on charge date, not payment date.
There are currently no credit cards that can be paid via Evolve.
Tips for Using Evolve
- No need to register your debit card
- If your transaction does not go through, you will have to wait for the authorization to fall off your card
- Using multiple Evolve accounts paying the same biller may lead to your biller being permanently blocked
- If using GCs with the new scheduling feature, it is important to schedule in such a way that it says your card will be charged today (not on a future date) to prevent a decline; and if you want to avoid the Express Pay fee this also means typically scheduling a few days out (click each date to find one without the fee but still charges your card today).
Mortgages Section
Let us know if payments auto apply to principal or if you have to call
Bank of America: After making 4 payments over the weekend you MUST call (or use online banking messaging) to allocate funds to the regular payment - by default it goes to principal.
Central Mortgage: Appears to go to additional principal payment. YMMV
Chase: Payments with JPMorgan have to fall within a ~5-day window in order for them to be unallocated, otherwise they go to principal. Your window depends on the billing date (usually the 1st of the month). If so, the window is until the 5th, so using Evolve, you have to allow for the payment to post and have it post between ~the 1st and the 5th. PITA
Citi: Made two payments near the end of the month and these were originally "unapplied" and labeled as "additional funds received". A day or two afterwards they moved to principal payments. A quick call to Citi had the payments moved from principal to make up my monthly mortgage payment.
Nationstar Mortgage: Payment applied as an "Additional principal payment" if you sent before the 1st of the month. If you pay after the first, the payment is held until you submit the full payment amount, and then the whole thing is applied to your monthly payment.
PNC: Partial payments will be held aside until payment in full is made. They will send a letter.
Provident Funding: Does not accept partial payments. After month's mortgage is paid, accepts Evolve a additional principal payments.
US Bank: Made 4 payments in June; after a couple of days, payments moved from principal payment to applying to monthly payment w/o a call
Wells Fargo: Two $500 payments day 1, One $500 payment day 2 going over the actual mortgage payment amount due. The payment automatically combined itself to pay the exact amount due once the Third hit. Any amount that was overpaid subsequently went towards principal. Nice to not have to send in the Exact amount, if you don't mind paying some extra principal.
"If you have any problems with gift cards please send us an email at support [at] evolvemoney.com" [Source: AlexAtEvolveMoney]
Evolve Money
Jan 20, 2014, 11:55 am
#77
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 657
There wont be any tax forms that you need to file for contributions. other readers are correct in that you will owe taxes and penalties on only gains - unless the 529 beneficiary actually did incur higher education expenses of course
I have recommended contributing and withdrawing money within the same year for a lot of my....associates - though not for the reason of MS of course.
There will be a tax form generated listing the total DISTRIBUTIONS for the year. I'd keep the year end statement that reflects my contributions equal my distributions.
Things I'd consider:
Each states 529 plan does have a maximum (somewhere around $250,000). That's per state, per beneficiary. That is a cap on total account value. you can have $1,000,000 in contributions so long as your balance stays below $250,000 (for you big MSers who go big or go home)
You can be both the owner and beneficiary of the same 529 as long as your over 18.
Check for up front sales charges on the investments and any annual fees that may take away from you contributions.
So tax-wise - i'm not worried.
the 529 custodians (vanguard, schwab, etc) wont be a problem.
and let's just say someone does ask questions. "well i kept contributing to the 529 plan but my wife kept pulling the money out to shop and i didn't notice it until now."
As always, none of this is tax advice. do what you feel comfortable with.
I have recommended contributing and withdrawing money within the same year for a lot of my....associates - though not for the reason of MS of course.
There will be a tax form generated listing the total DISTRIBUTIONS for the year. I'd keep the year end statement that reflects my contributions equal my distributions.
Things I'd consider:
Each states 529 plan does have a maximum (somewhere around $250,000). That's per state, per beneficiary. That is a cap on total account value. you can have $1,000,000 in contributions so long as your balance stays below $250,000 (for you big MSers who go big or go home)
You can be both the owner and beneficiary of the same 529 as long as your over 18.
Check for up front sales charges on the investments and any annual fees that may take away from you contributions.
So tax-wise - i'm not worried.
the 529 custodians (vanguard, schwab, etc) wont be a problem.
and let's just say someone does ask questions. "well i kept contributing to the 529 plan but my wife kept pulling the money out to shop and i didn't notice it until now."
As always, none of this is tax advice. do what you feel comfortable with.
All I get from that is your 529 created the form for you. You still have to submit it to the IRS, correct?
Again, when I took money(principal) out of my tax sheltered roth ira I had to submit a form to the irs telling them how much I took out. Maybe you are comfortable telling the IRS about your hobby of man spend but I would rather not have that conversation.
The safer route is to get a line of credit, but is that worth a hard pull?
Jan 20, 2014, 1:14 pm
#78
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: DFW
Posts: 50
Looking through the payee list on the Evolve Money website, I noticed some possibilities:
1. Several credit cards issued by Comenity Bank seem to be listed (search for Visa or MasterCard ... they're listed as retail store cards). The trick there would be running up a balance on this card that you'd want to pay off with MS from another source.
2. Several credit unions are listed as payees. Some specify that you're paying a loan or mortgage; others just list the CU's name. If someone has an account at one of these institutions and can try to do a small payment to one of their accounts (check card, checking account, etc.) that would provide a great data point.
1. Several credit cards issued by Comenity Bank seem to be listed (search for Visa or MasterCard ... they're listed as retail store cards). The trick there would be running up a balance on this card that you'd want to pay off with MS from another source.
2. Several credit unions are listed as payees. Some specify that you're paying a loan or mortgage; others just list the CU's name. If someone has an account at one of these institutions and can try to do a small payment to one of their accounts (check card, checking account, etc.) that would provide a great data point.
Jan 20, 2014, 5:56 pm
#80
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 245
I bought a Reloadit card for $4xx.xx using my CC and made a billpay to my mortgage Sunday night. Cashier said "wow, that is a big gift card" and I didn't tell her I had bought $2k in vgc at the next lane a couple hours earlier. 
Jan 20, 2014, 6:53 pm
#85
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 28
Some of the descriptions are really bad. My power company is Dominion. The listing that I think is correct does not have Dominion in the name and there are no other identifying details like and address or phone number. On the upside it didn't reject a $1 payment to see if it shows up.
Jan 20, 2014, 8:28 pm
#88
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 657
Jan 20, 2014, 9:40 pm
#90
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 118
I think I will just try and pick up the phone and call them about the bill pay description issues and see what they say. I called them on the Reloadit issue and they resolved the problem. If enough people complain maybe they will improve the search function.