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Old Apr 30, 2019, 10:12 am
  #1  
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Prepaid gift card for recurring charge

I recently discovered that my landlord waives the transaction fee for lease payments with debit cards, but only if set up as a recurring charge. My plan was to buy $500 VGCs every month and cancel the auto-payments after one transaction on each card. Blackhawk/metabank denied the transaction because they say prepaid gift cards can't be used for recurring transactions. Are there any other brands of VGC/MCGC that won't deny recurring charges?

If not, I'm OK eating the transaction fee once, but then I'd need a way to combine the balance of several VGCs so I can process only one payment and I haven't heard of a way to do that.
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Old Apr 30, 2019, 11:56 am
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Originally Posted by mroseman13
I recently discovered that my landlord waives the transaction fee for lease payments with debit cards, but only if set up as a recurring charge. My plan was to buy $500 VGCs every month and cancel the auto-payments after one transaction on each card. Blackhawk/metabank denied the transaction because they say prepaid gift cards can't be used for recurring transactions. Are there any other brands of VGC/MCGC that won't deny recurring charges?

If not, I'm OK eating the transaction fee once, but then I'd need a way to combine the balance of several VGCs so I can process only one payment and I haven't heard of a way to do that.
This isn't quite MS'ing in the tradition sense, but
If you already have a demand account (traditional checking or even BB) that will permit your landlord to access it, then why don't you simply set up a recurring charge on the demand account for your rent and fund that account with MO's obtained from your VGCs?.
It does require one extra step (buying a MO using the VGC and depositing it into the demand account) but otherwise will permit you to pay your landlord and still use a CC to get your points.
It only cost one MO more than if you could do what you wanted, which I do not believe you can with VGCs.
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Old Apr 30, 2019, 2:17 pm
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Originally Posted by radonc1
This isn't quite MS'ing in the tradition sense, but
If you already have a demand account (traditional checking or even BB) that will permit your landlord to access it, then why don't you simply set up a recurring charge on the demand account for your rent and fund that account with MO's obtained from your VGCs?.
It does require one extra step (buying a MO using the VGC and depositing it into the demand account) but otherwise will permit you to pay your landlord and still use a CC to get your points.
It only cost one MO more than if you could do what you wanted, which I do not believe you can with VGCs.
I haven't yet ventured into more traditional MSing with MOs; I was hoping to avoid the extra steps (and eyes on my activities) required there. Usually I purchase VGCs to top up the bonus categories on my CC and use them for everyday spend. I guess if there isn't any other way I can read up on various MO purchasing options and the recommended demand accounts these days.
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Old Sep 18, 2019, 7:31 am
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Maybe check out the prepaid cards at CVS or similar? See if any can be loaded at walmart or FD/DG similar to serve loads.
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Old Sep 18, 2019, 11:29 am
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Originally Posted by mroseman13
I haven't yet ventured into more traditional MSing with MOs; I was hoping to avoid the extra steps (and eyes on my activities) required there. Usually I purchase VGCs to top up the bonus categories on my CC and use them for everyday spend. I guess if there isn't any other way I can read up on various MO purchasing options and the recommended demand accounts these days.
Can't you just pay your landlord with the money orders?
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Old Sep 18, 2019, 1:04 pm
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Originally Posted by bigshooter
Can't you just pay your landlord with the money orders?
Many landlords will not take MOs. For example, my daughter's LL refused to accept MOs, and only took checks (or cash).
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Old Sep 18, 2019, 3:53 pm
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Originally Posted by radonc1
Many landlords will not take MOs. For example, my daughter's LL refused to accept MOs, and only took checks (or cash).
Crazy that a landlord would take a check, but not a money order.
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Old Sep 18, 2019, 4:24 pm
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Originally Posted by camaross
Crazy that a landlord would take a check, but not a money order.
Why not just barter sex like in the movie Kingpin.
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Old Sep 18, 2019, 6:34 pm
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Originally Posted by radonc1
Many landlords will not take MOs. For example, my daughter's LL refused to accept MOs, and only took checks (or cash).
Renting a house from a individual or is this an apartment? Funny that they'd take a check that they probably can't guarantee funds on, but not a MO that is 100% guaranteed.

And what kind of proprety accepts cash??? Sounds like a place waiting to get robbed on the last of the month.
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Old Sep 18, 2019, 6:56 pm
  #10  
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Nice reviving my old thread Payment is through an online portal, so no MOs, checks, or even cash accepted. It's a ~$7 fee per debit card payment, since the fee-waived recurring charge will get declined by the GC issuer. Simon Mall GCs half the number of debit payments needed. $0.88 is cheaper than $7 (if you weren't aware), it's just a bit of a drive to get to a friendly WM which I've visited a few times since starting the thread. With a 2% back card, I'd still be up ~$9 per $1k of rent without visiting a WM. It's better than an ACH from my checking account, I was just hoping there was a magical GC on the shelves that would work.
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Old Sep 18, 2019, 10:46 pm
  #11  
ogg
 
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Originally Posted by mroseman13
Nice reviving my old thread Payment is through an online portal, so no MOs, checks, or even cash accepted. It's a ~$7 fee per debit card payment, since the fee-waived recurring charge will get declined by the GC issuer. Simon Mall GCs half the number of debit payments needed. $0.88 is cheaper than $7 (if you weren't aware), it's just a bit of a drive to get to a friendly WM which I've visited a few times since starting the thread. With a 2% back card, I'd still be up ~$9 per $1k of rent without visiting a WM. It's better than an ACH from my checking account, I was just hoping there was a magical GC on the shelves that would work.
Get a reloadable prepaid card like GoBank/Serve/BlueBird. Load that card with your Simon prepaids, then do recurring payments from it.
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Old Sep 19, 2019, 6:49 pm
  #12  
 
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Originally Posted by mroseman13
Nice reviving my old thread Payment is through an online portal, so no MOs, checks, or even cash accepted. It's a ~$7 fee per debit card payment, since the fee-waived recurring charge will get declined by the GC issuer. Simon Mall GCs half the number of debit payments needed. $0.88 is cheaper than $7 (if you weren't aware), it's just a bit of a drive to get to a friendly WM which I've visited a few times since starting the thread. With a 2% back card, I'd still be up ~$9 per $1k of rent without visiting a WM. It's better than an ACH from my checking account, I was just hoping there was a magical GC on the shelves that would work.
How much for CC payment?
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Old Sep 20, 2019, 10:06 am
  #13  
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Originally Posted by bigshooter
How much for CC payment?
3.6%. So only good in the emergency case where I need to hit minimum spend and my normal methods don't work.
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