How to earn points and cash back with Plastiq.com

Updated May 31, 2024
Fact checked by
Alexandrine Bertrand
Alexandrine Bertrand

Alexandrine Bertrand

Alexandrine Bertrand
An avid solo traveller, Alexandrine is an expert on loyalty programmes such as Aeroplan, Avios, AIR MILES, Flying Blue and Marriott Bonvoy. With a budget-conscious approach, she helps travellers make the most of their points and miles to experience affordable, off-the-beaten-path getaways. She also shares a love of gastronomy and enjoys exploring local flavours and culinary traditions.
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To the point American Express cards are back with Plastiq to earn points and unlock welcome bonuses!

***Update March 7, 2024: Plastiq confirms that it now accepts payments made with American Express cards at merchants in Canada. You can now add your American Express card to your Wallet and make payments today!

*** Update October 18, 2023: Plastiq confirms that it will resume accepting American Express cards by the end of October 2023! American and Canadian cards accepted to pay American merchants. However, payments with an Amex card to a Canadian merchant are not yet accepted.

***Update February 09, 2023: As of February 10, 2023, Plastiq will no longer accept payments made with American Express credit cards. All American Express cards will be removed from the Plastiq user’s wallet on this date. Therefore, all future recurring payments made with an American Express card will be cancelled.In addition, electronic payments are no longer available from the Canada Revenue Agency. From now on, only payments made with Visa or Mastercard will be accepted and sent by cheque, with a 2.9% charge.

 

How to earn points and miles with Plastiq.com

Before going any further, we can confirm that this is a legitimate service recognized by the government. We have used it several times, and the Canada Revenue Agency lists it on its website as a service provider that offers credit card payment for taxes.

 

What payments are allowed on Plastiq?

As an individual, you can pay many suppliers by credit card through Plastiq.com:

  • Taxes
  • Municipal and school taxes
  • Condo fees
  • School fees
  • Hydro Quebec
  • Professional services (accountants, lawyers…)
  • Private schools
  • Professional associations (annual registration to an order for example…)

However, you cannot pay your credit card balances via Plastiq or send checks to yourself or relatives (except for exchanges of services).

As a business or professional, you can pay vendors or suppliers, even your contractors!

The table of authorized providers by card type

On Plastiq, you’ll find a table in English which summarizes the credit or charge cards that can be used depending on the suppliers, both in Canada and in the United States!

At the end of this article, you’ll find the list of experienced suppliers validated by the members of the milesopedia Facebook group on this dedicated topic!

Plastiq.com service fees

Of course, this is not a miraculous service: there is a fee for every transaction made on Plastiq.com.

These fees are:

  • 2.9% for all credit cards
  • 2.9% to make a payment to the Canada Revenue Agency by cheque (new since February 2023)

 

Plastiq Payment

Let us remind you that the objective here is to keep you out of debt!

Don’t pay your taxes with your credit card if you can’t pay off the balance on your card. The interest accrued on your credit card will be much higher than the interest you could have by making a payment arrangement with the Canada Revenue Agency or any other beneficiary.

Example of a payment to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)

Here is step by step a payment to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) through Plastiq.

First, you will need to add the CRA as a beneficiary. You can search in this way (Plastiq is unfortunately only available in English). Canada Revenue Agency will be proposed to you.

plastiq beneficial addition
Search for a beneficiary

Then, check the information and add this recipient to your list. You can see that payments to CRA are made by cheque and received by CRA within 8 days. So plan ahead.

Plastiq ARC Cheque
Plastiq ARC Cheque

You are now ready to make your payment to the CRA. Since the CRA is already registered with Plastiq, you will be asked to fill in some fields (such as the type of taxes you will pay). You indicate on the calendar the date you want the payment to arrive at the CRA. Then Plastiq automatically calculates the date of payment for you.

plastiq cra config
First step in making a payment to the CRA

You will be asked for other details such as your SIN (which allows your payment to be issued to your account with the CRA) or the tax date.

plastiq cra details
Other payment details

Finally Plastiq will show you a summary before payment.

There you go! By clicking on the confirmation, your payment to the CRA is gone. You will be kept informed of tis progress by email. You will also be able to view it in the Plastiq management interface.

When to use the Plastiq.com service

In our opinion, it is advantageous to use the Plastiq.com service under 3 conditions.

The gain in points or cash rebates must be worth it

However, few cards offer more than a 2% return on your spend. Here, the charge is 2.9%.

For example, you should use one of the cards in your wallet that offers 2% or more cash back on all your expenses. Or a card whose points provide a sufficient return like the one shown below.

To unlock a welcome bonus

Many cards offer generous welcome bonuses (notably National Bank and Scotiabank), provided you have made a minimum spend over a period of several months.

In some cases, the amount to spend can be several thousand dollars!

In this case, it may be worthwhile to use the Plastiq.com service. It’s worth the cost in this case, so you don’t lose out on the opportunity to earn thousands of points!

To obtain the missing points for a trip

Are you short a few hundred or a few thousand points for your next trip or on your Aeroplan account? Plastiq. com could be the solution to your problem.

Instead of buying gift cards for different businesses, you could, for example, pay your electricity, municipal taxes or taxes in advance.

List of providers milesopedia members can vouch for

The community of milesopedia members, on the Facebook group “milesopedia – Cartes de crédit et Récompenses”, has vouched for the use of these suppliers through Plastiq (topic of discussion here).

City / Country Type Name Amex – Mastercard Transfer / Cheque
ALMA School taxes COMMISSION SCOLAIRE DU LAC-SAINT-JEAN – DAYCARE SERVICE Amex – Mastercard TRANSFER
Alma Municipal taxes City of Alma – Tax Amex – Mastercard Transfer
Boucherville Municipal taxes City Of Boucherville Amex – Mastercard Transfer
CANADA Services Energir – Gaz Metro Amex – Mastercard
CANADA Services Hydro-Québec Amex – Mastercard Transfer
CANADA Services SAAQ Amex – Mastercard Cheque
CANADA Alimony Revenu Québec Amex – Mastercard Cheque
CANADA Professional Order Pharmacists association Amex – Mastercard Cheque
CANADA Professional Order Ordre Des Ingenieurs Du Quebec Amex – Mastercard Transfer
CANADA Professional Order Ordre des Ergothérapeutes du Québec Amex – Mastercard Transfer
CANADA Professional Order CPA Quebec Amex – Mastercard Transfer
CANADA Taxes Canada Revenue Agency Amex – Mastercard Transfer
CANADA Taxes Revenu Québec Amex – Mastercard Cheque
CANADA Co-ownership fees Co-ownership fees Amex – Mastercard Cheque
CANADA Insurance National Bank Insurance Amex – Mastercard Transfer
CANADA Insurance Co-Operators
CANADA Insurance La Capitale
CANADA Insurance Intact Assurances Amex – Mastercard Cheque
CANADA Insurance Canada Life Assurance Mastercard Transfer
CANADA Insurance SSQ (Collectives) Mastercard Transfer
CANADA Insurance UV Mutual (Life Insurance) Mastercard Cheque
Commission scolaire des Affluents School taxes Amex – Mastercard Cheque
Duberger Daycare / School Everest elementary school (daycare and school supplies) Amex – Mastercard Cheque
Gatineau Municipal taxes City Of Gatineau Amex – Mastercard Transfer
Mirabel School taxes CSSMI Amex – Mastercard
Mirabel Municipal taxes City of Mirabel – Tax Amex – Mastercard Transfer
Montreal School taxes Montreal School Board Amex – Mastercard Cheque
Montreal Municipal taxes City of montreal Amex – Mastercard Cheque
Montreal Daycare / School Kids & Company Amex – Mastercard
Morin-Heights Municipal taxes Municipality of Morin-Heights – Tax Amex – Mastercard Transfer
Quebec City School taxes Commission Scolaire Premiere Seigneurie Amex – Mastercard Cheque
Quebec City School taxes Commission Scolaire des Découvreurs Amex – Mastercard Cheque
Quebec City Municipal taxes Quebec City – Tax Amex – Mastercard Transfer
Repentigny Municipal taxes Amex – Mastercard
Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville School taxes Patriots School Board Amex – Mastercard Transfer
Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville Municipal taxes City of St. Bruno De Montarville Amex – Mastercard Transfer
Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts School taxes Commission Scolaire Des Laurentides Amex – Mastercard Transfer
Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts Municipal taxes City of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts – Tax Amex – Mastercard Transfer
City of L’Assomption Municipal taxes Amex – Mastercard Transfer

 

Bottom Line

Please note that Plastiq purchases charged to a BMO card do not earn rewards points.

For example, with the BMO Ascend® World Elite®*Mastercard®*, you can pay your bill via PaySimply with this card. However, this expense will not count as an eligible expense for a welcome offer or earn BMO Rewards points.

Plastiq is a handy service that lets you unlock welcome bonuses and earn points for payments you’ve made by cheque or via your bank account!

We remind you that you should not use this service if you are unable to pay off your credit card balance! The interest that will be applied on it (16 to 30%) far exceeds the rewards you could have obtained.

How to pay a transfer tax with a credit card

The first thing to do is to check if your city accepts credit card payments. Some do. Otherwise, you can go through a third party such as PLASTIQ or PAYSIMPLY which will accept your payment by credit card and send the amount by check or electronic transfer to the recipient.

However, since there is a fee for this service, Milesopedia recommends using this strategy to unlock the bonus on a new credit card.

How to pay municipal or school taxes with a credit card ?

The first thing to do is to check if your city accepts credit card payments. Some do. Otherwise, you can go through a third party such as PLASTIQ or PAYSIMPLY which will accept your payment by credit card and send the amount by check or electronic transfer to the recipient.

However, since there is a fee for this service, Milesopedia recommends using this strategy to unlock the bonus on a new credit card.

Come to discuss that topic in our Facebook Group!
Jean-Maximilien Voisine

Jean-Maximilien Voisine

Jean-Maximilien Voisine
Jean-Maximilien, President and Founder of Milesopedia, is a recognized expert in rewards programs, credit cards, and travel in Canada and France. Approaching forty and a father of two, he has travelled to over 100 countries, half of them with his children and his wife, Audrey. Specializing in top loyalty programs like Aeroplan, American Express Membership Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy, he guides travellers to maximize their benefits across North America and Europe.
All posts by Jean-Maximilien Voisine
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