Plastiq: Select Categories Will No Longer Have Cash Advance Issues On Visa Cards (Includes Rent & Tuition)

Plastiq has announced a change whereby select payment categories will no longer have the cash advance issue that has plagued Visa personal cards for some time. The following categories will go through fine on all cards:

  • Residential Rent & HOA Fees
  • Commercial Rent
  • Taxes & Government Fees
  • Utilities (Electricity, Cable, Internet, Telecom)
  • Tuition (including daycare and camp)

[Our Plastiq contact did caution me that while these categories should not have any cash advance problems based on how they are coded, it’s ultimately up to a card issuer to decide how to treat it (e.g. an issuer can decide to self-define it as a cash advance).]

All other categories (e.g. mortgage) are still subject to the old limitations whereby select Visa cards might have issues. Plastiq will always tell you if there’s a cash advance issue, so you don’t need to worry if they don’t flag you, even if you have not reviewed the rules.

To review the Plastiq criteria, there are two separate limitations with Plastiq:

  1. Limitations on which categories you can pay; some things can’t be paid at all (e.g. a credit card bill) and some things can’t be paid with specific issuers (e.g. you can’t use Amex for mortgage payments.
  2. Separately, some cards have a cash advance issue. This issue does not affect ANY Mastercard, Discover, or Amex payments; only Visa. This issue does not affect Visa business cards. This issue does not affect Visa personal cards from Wells Fargo or Capital One. It also isn’t really a problem with Chase cards (more detail in our review). Going forward, this issue does not affect the above-mentioned categories even on a personal Visa card from an effected bank like BofA.

Full details can be found in our Plastiq review. You can review the rules on the Plastiq site here.

If you are new to Plastiq, you can signup with our referral link and get $500 in free processing (valued at $12.50) after spending $500 in paid processing. If you have a business, you can get $4,000 in free processing immediately (valued at $100) – more details on that here.

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14 Comments
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tristan
tristan (@guest_895678)
February 1, 2020 14:32

tried to use Amex to pay bill with nycha and they got it under a category as “other business services” even though they work with nycha and you cant use amex on that category so no rent pay for nycha residents?

Raj
Raj (@guest_844964)
November 18, 2019 14:32

Hi,

I have used Regions Visa signature credit card (personal) to pay my student loan using Plastiq but I just saw cash advance fee charged for it. Any reasons why? Any input will be highly appreciated.

HarryTheFirstHarry
HarryTheFirstHarry (@guest_790973)
July 29, 2019 23:17

To celebrate here are some FFDs….enjoy! I mean the did do it the last time I made a prediction like this…..

Onsale
Onsale (@guest_790874)
July 29, 2019 19:59

What do Plastique payments code as?

What would something like rent or mortgage be coded as?

Millennial Outrage
Millennial Outrage (@guest_791094)
July 30, 2019 09:37

I think it can vary by payment recipient (rent, tuition, etc.) and sounds like Visa could have specifically changed, but FWIW, MC used to code as Utilities for student loan payments.

Erin
Erin (@guest_790861)
July 29, 2019 19:30

I’ve never used a credit card to buy a gift card or pay by Plastiq. I have to turn off the ability of cash advance on my CC. How can I do it with WF? I didn’t find this option in online bank. Is there a useful page on the web site how to spend CC money safely and on time?

Erin
Erin (@guest_790880)
July 29, 2019 20:07

Thanks, I saw it in the topic. I have other questions. Maybe they are obvious for you. How can I turn off cash advance on a CC and maybe there is a hidden post about spending cc money. I’ve read on another site that buying gift cards could be cash advance.

dayTradeIt
dayTradeIt (@guest_790845)
July 29, 2019 19:05

Their email states that “All Visa personal cards on Plastiq are unblocked in the following payment categories”. Does that include Metabank visa GCs?

m.
m. (@guest_815795)
September 28, 2019 00:35

I tried vgc today and it seemed to work. I will wait and see. Any dp already?

yuna
yuna (@guest_840162)
November 11, 2019 22:09
  m.

What was the result? I want to pay tuition with vgc

John
John (@guest_790780)
July 29, 2019 16:21

Plastic needs to bring back 3x with with the Chase business preferred if they want more customers and more usage.

Millennial Outrage
Millennial Outrage (@guest_790794)
July 29, 2019 16:55

Not really up to them.