The other day, I wrote about a credit card ripe for abuse. It wasn’t scaleable and was maxed to $240 a year. You also had to be a checking account customer and a few other hoops to jump through.
There is a better deal if you know how to play the automated, small value transaction game. You would need to open a checking account with Discover Bank, and for every transaction of the following you would receive $.10 up to 100 transactions:
- debit card purchase
- online bill payment
- check cleared
In total, you’d be able to earn $10 per month also up to $120 a year. However, this being a checking account with Discover, I would expect a 1099-INT to be issued.
If it we were me, I would take the same page as MilesAbound, make all of your transactions with your utility company.
So if you did both Citizens Bank and Discover Bank, you could make an incredibly easy $360 a year per person.
**Also see the comment below from Hua about shutdowns and irregular charges from Discover’s antifraud(?) department
How do you get 10 per month to total to 240 per year?
Because arithmetic.
Odd, cause multiplication says 12×10=120
Oopsies, good catch!
I would be leery of doing this just to earn $10 a month. The FAQ specifically warns against “manufacturing transactions” and this FatWalletter was warned by Discover that repetitive small payments to a single vendor was viewed as irregular activity: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/1256726/m17887842/#m17887842
From the FAQ: “…splitting up one standard monthly bill payment into several payments to receive $0.10 per payment is deemed as irregular activity as it’s not standard bill payment practice. The same holds true for debit card transactions. Asking a merchant to swipe your debit card repeatedly for each item at checkout instead of using your debit card to make a complete purchase of items at one time is recognized as manufacturing transactions and not normal everyday debit card behavior.”
(https://www.discover.com/online-banking/checking/#faq-cat5)
Thanks! Updated the post to see your comment
Honestly there is very little point in trying to abuse these debit/checking account promotions anymore. Banks make very little from debit transactions now, so they are quite strict on shutting down blatant abuse such as automated transactions.
Thanks for the feedback – makes sense with the latest regulations
I continue to be amazed by the lengths that you’re willing to go to (and the risks that you’re willing to take) for such tiny payoffs.
Isn’t part of manufactured spending taking on risk?
Is it implied that if I write about it, I am doing it? This post was more conceptual that the offer is available