Pay bill through Paypal by using Amex card, but still only receive 0.5 rewards points

[kyle]

Please clarify what organisation the Postbillpay (via Paypal) payment was being made to.

Separately, I can confirm that a health insurance payment (Medibank) using Postbillpay>Paypal only got 0.5 pts on the Edge, so Paypal is communicating the identity of insurers to Amex, as well as utilities reported by others.

My telstra bill paid via PayPal on Reserve yielded 0.5 points. :-(

 

[slinky123]

Please clarify what organisation the Postbillpay (via Paypal) payment was being made to.

Separately, I can confirm that a health insurance payment (Medibank) using Postbillpay>Paypal only got 0.5 pts on the Edge, so Paypal is communicating the identity of insurers to Amex, as well as utilities reported by others.

Hi , it was for IPrimus ( telco) In March it was 1.5 and April 0.5 , May 0.5. So it changed in April.

 

[sumthinfornuthin]

I've ditched AP Billpay, simply use my visa or M/Card now direct with utilities etc. Wonder how much the turnover will drop for AMEX.....probably not much !

 

[unfunkable]

I've ditched AP Billpay, simply use my visa or M/Card now direct with utilities etc. Wonder how much the turnover will drop for AMEX.....probably not much !

Same, with my coles MC with a 20% fly buys bonus, I get just over 1 kris flyer per $

 

[sumthinfornuthin]

Same, with my coles MC with a 20% fly buys bonus, I get just over 1 kris flyer per $

Getting harder and harder....one day any of us "older" FF's will dreamily say to our grandkids......"I remember the good old days etc,etc,etc"

 

[Mr_Orange]

I'm doing the same going forward. I'll just set up direct debits on my Visa/MC.

 

[unfunkable]

I'm doing the same going forward. I'll just set up direct debits on my Visa/MC.

Very interesting interaction with my aussie post owner this morning. She said AMEX and AP have some 'deal'. I paid my asic fees using amex - (she asked me to try and see if it works) . I told her AMEX will only pay 0.5PPD since it was AP, but she said some young guy is coming in paying all his utility bills for himself and others using amex, and told her he is 'making' money off it - obs a fellow points hound. I will see how many PPD my explorer posts for these bills. I got a feeling it is still better using my COLES MC to get 1 PPD

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Very interesting interaction with my aussie post owner this morning. She said AMEX and AP have some 'deal'. I paid my asic fees using amex - (she asked me to try and see if it works) . I told her AMEX will only pay 0.5PPD since it was AP, but she said some young guy is coming in paying all his utility bills for himself and others using amex, and told her he is 'making' money off it - obs a fellow points hound. I will see how many PPD my explorer posts for these bills. I got a feeling it is still better using my COLES MC to get 1 PPD

If they're actual utility bills he'd be far better off just paying them directly with Explorer/VA Plat/Ultimate to get 1.5/$1 as these don't have reduced earn rates on utility payments.

Note that the DJs cards give you 0.75/$1 on government payments, though (that being the card's "normal" earning rate for everyday spend, with no subcategory for government charges below that.

Until Westpac shut down its own AMEX cards, 1.25/$1 at Australia Post was great until April of this year!

 

[unfunkable]

Yeah the terminal should not take Amex for utility payments and asic payments but it did . Will be interesting to see what category fall under the points fall under . The guy told her he is def getting points to make it worth while harvesting all these bills to pay . The only thing I can think of is the system not recognising the payment as a government body hence getting the maximum points . But I’ll post back here with my experience once points post .

 

[SOPOOR]

Very interesting interaction with my aussie post owner this morning. She said AMEX and AP have some 'deal'. I paid my asic fees using amex - (she asked me to try and see if it works) . I told her AMEX will only pay 0.5PPD since it was AP, but she said some young guy is coming in paying all his utility bills for himself and others using amex, and told her he is 'making' money off it - obs a fellow points hound. I will see how many PPD my explorer posts for these bills. I got a feeling it is still better using my COLES MC to get 1 PPD

How is he making money off paying bills especially at aP even though most places don't accept amex

 

[Robert K]

Just out of curiosity, how much points do you get per year from creditcard spend?

 

[unfunkable]

AP only paid 0.5 PPD at the termial using AMEX explorer. Good for people without a backup MC or VISA earning points.
Trick is to tap the amex card not insert and it works.

 

[tlam]

AP only paid 0.5 PPD at the termial using AMEX explorer. Good for people without a backup MC or VISA earning points.
Trick is to tap the amex card not insert and it works.

But you can only earn 0.5 point anyway, so what the difference is when you can pay on their billpay website and can get 0.5 pts

 

[unfunkable]

That is a good point. I guess maybe some people won't have paypal to link and pay via postbillpay online.
Also, some bills don't work via postbillpay like my ASIC fees.

 

[Isochronous]

AP only paid 0.5 PPD at the termial using AMEX explorer. Good for people without a backup MC or VISA earning points.
Trick is to tap the amex card not insert and it works.

Why would tapping make a difference to swiping? It shouldn't affect the way that Australia Post is coded as a merchant and thus the points that Amex decide to pay.

 

[unfunkable]

Don’t ask me . All I know is that when we insert Amex card if the payment doesn’t accept Amex like asic it doesn’t work .
When we tap it worked .

 

[SOPOOR]

Don’t ask me . All I know is that when we insert Amex card if the payment doesn’t accept Amex like asic it doesn’t work .
When we tap it worked .

so what you are saying is that any bill, even thoughthey dont accept amex, if you just pretend its a visa and just tap it , it should go through?

 

[unfunkable]

That's what happened with me. It was a verifone terminal if that helps. It only paid 0.5amex PPD. If I use my coles MC, with the 20% bonus. I get 1 velocity PPD
So for me, I would still use my MC. It is good for people with no VISA or MC back up and only amex though.

I am going to try it with actewagl gas and water bills and my car rego. I know these only say MC VISA on the payment slip. Since I only get 0.5 PPD via postbillpay anyway, I will test this with the amex card at the actual terminal, and will insert and then tap and see what it says. I will sacrifice my 0.5PPD for the sake of data points ....lol

 

[unfunkable]

Ok so tested paying utility bill.
Bill says MC or VISA only.
Insert amex - get rejection
TAP amex - works fine

Owner told me this should work for any type of payment if you tap amex it will work - only good if no backup VISA or MC and can't postbillpay via paypal

 

[SOPOOR]

Ok so tested paying utility bill.
Bill says MC or VISA only.
Insert amex - get rejection
TAP amex - works fine

Owner told me this should work for any type of payment if you tap amex it will work - only good if no backup VISA or MC and can't postbillpay via paypal

nice find! so the moral of the story is that since governemnet spend is counted as 0.5 the best is to use for bills that dont accept amex, but has the barcode and isnt governement spend