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15 Feb 2010
For the past couple of months, I've been trying an experiment in which I deposit "payment checks" from my credit card in my savings account, then pay off the account when the bill comes so I collect the savings interest. But not any more. On Feb 4th, I paid the balance from last time, and on Feb 5th, Capital One's web site said my balance was zero and I had lots of credit. So on the 8th, the next time I was at the bank, I deposited this month's payment check. On the 11th Capital One bounced it. Huh?posted at: 17:54 :: permanent link to this entry :: 3 comments Trackback link is http://weblog.johnlevine.com/Money/freelast.trackback 28 Jan 2010
Capital One sent me some "payment checks" which give a grace period just like a credit card charge, so I deposited a couple in my savings account to collect the interest. Earlier this month I paid my bill electronically the day before the due date, and once I saw it had posted on their site, I wrote myself another check and deposited it in the bank. Payment and deposit posted at the bank on the same day, so I'm earning my 1.35% APY uninterrupted. When this month's bill arrived, there were three more payment checks in the envelope with it, and in the same day's mail was a little booklet with three more, just in case. I guess they really want to lend me money at 0% interest. In the meantime, I've been pondering how to best pay my taxes. Since I'm self-employed my income varies a lot from year to year, and this year I'll have a large payment due in April. I could write them a check, but what fun would that be? You can pay your taxes with plastic through three providers who have arrangements with the IRS. Since the IRS won't pay a merchant fee, they all charge extra. If you use a credit card, they charge 1.95% or 2.35%, much more than any plausible card rebate. But if you pay with a debit card, there's a flat fee of about $4. One bank I use now offers reward points on debit card payments. It's not a lot, one point per $2 with a point being worth about a penny, but a payment of $800 would earn more than $4 of points, and my tax bill will be considerably more than that. Hmmn. posted at: 01:13 :: permanent link to this entry :: 2 comments Trackback link is http://weblog.johnlevine.com/Money/freejan.trackback 30 Dec 2009
Someone noted that I am not their target demographic. I guess not. Perhaps I should call up and ask for a larger credit line, anyway. posted at: 01:40 :: permanent link to this entry :: 1 comments Trackback link is http://weblog.johnlevine.com/Money/freexmas.trackback 16 Dec 2009
A few weeks ago
I blogged about some credit card
checks that Capital One sent, with terms that appeared to offer free
money.
I wrote myself a check for ten grand, and deposited it in the bank to
see what would happen.
posted at: 01:21 :: permanent link to this entry :: 5 comments Trackback link is http://weblog.johnlevine.com/Money/capone3.trackback 03 Dec 2009
posted at: 01:14 :: permanent link to this entry :: 0 comments Trackback link is http://weblog.johnlevine.com/Money/capone2.trackback |
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It's coming up on the date when I'll pay back my first $10K loan of free
money, so what did my pals at Capital One do? Send me a stern note saying
I'm misusing the checks? Cut my credit limit? Heck, no, they sent me a
little booklet with more no-fee checks so I can keep going at least
through March.