As a Plastiq customer, the recently announced changes to their pricing structure caught my attention. I’ve relied on Plastiq for years to pay my bills with credit cards and get rewards, so I wanted to understand exactly how these new fees will impact me.
So, What’s The Big Change at Plastiq?
Plastiq, the popular bill payment service, has announced changes in its pricing structure. The company now includes an additional ‘delivery fee’ on top of their existing service charges. This move is expected to affect both ACH payments and check payments
As of now, Plastiq’s new fee structure is different from their old one, where they charged a flat 2.9% fee for credit card payments, while bank payments were free.
The newly introduced delivery fees are:
- $.99 for ACH payments and bill payments
- $1.49 for check payments
These fees are levied to cover the costs associated with sending payments based on the vendor’s preference, such as the cost of mailing a check or sending a wire transfer through partner banks.
Here’s a breakdown of the delivery fees:
- Check/Cheque – $1.49
- ACH Bank Transfer – $0.99
- Billpay – $0.99
- EFT – $0.99
- Domestic Wire – $8.99
- International Wire – $39.00
Key Takeaways from Plastiq’s New Pricing
- No Base Fee for ACH Bank Funded Payments: There is no base fee for payments sent using the bank account payment method. However, the delivery fees and expedited delivery pricing still apply.
- Insufficient Funds Fee: If your account balance is too low to cover the withdrawal when Plastiq processes your scheduled payment, a $30.00 Insufficient Funds fee will apply
- .Prepaid Cards Fee: The fee for prepaid cards remains 2.9%. This includes gift cards, retail cards, and general-purpose reloadable, and non-reloadable cards.
- Scheduled Payments: Editing a scheduled payment will initiate a recalculation of the Plastiq fee. If you schedule a payment as part of a Plastiq promotion or special offer and edit it later, the fee will reset and you will lose the promotional rate.
Strategies to Reduce Fees
Here are some ways I can adapt to lower my costs:
- Use ACH for payments instead of checks to avoid the higher $1.49 feePay large bills with a bank account instead of a credit card to avoid a 2.5% fee
- Avoid expedited delivery options unless necessary
The Bottom Line
While the new fees aren’t ideal, Plastiq still offers convenience and flexibility I can’t find elsewhere.
By choosing payment methods strategically, I can minimize the impact. I’ll be monitoring costs closely but plan to continue maximizing rewards through Plastiq bill payments.
