My Latest Find – 5x Debit Card Points with Credit Card Account Deposits

Edit – the deal isn’t what I thought, sorry folks, it is onto the next one… see why here:

No 5x Because I messed up, but there is some hope..

Yesterday I found what could be the Holy Grail of Manufactured Spending, though we think that every time we find something new and interesting, its actually a complicated process to find out just how good this deal is.  Once I do, I will share the name of the Bank that offers this service exclusively to my email subscribers, so that I can share it with you good people, but not leave it sitting here in the wide open so that every man and his dog signs up.

I’ll share with you what I know right now to see if it sounds interesting, and where the pitfalls are:

• Funding by Credit Card up to $2,000 over two accounts
• 5x Points on Debit Card PIN transactions, 2x Points on Signed Transactions

Firstly the Credit Card funding – that was a surprise to me, a nice bonus at the end of the application process.  That the limit was $2,000 for both accounts was a little disappointing, since I am used to being able to fund $5,000 per new account.  However whilst it may appear that $2,000 is the total, it may also be that I can open up sub accounts in the future, such as a new MMA or sub-savings account and if I do it one at a time get $2,000 per transaction.  Time will tell.

When funding with a Credit Card not all Credit Cards work, some banks recognize that you are opening up an account with it and charge you a cash advance fee, some others do not.  I will tell which Credit Cards I use for this and which to avoid via the email newsletter.

Credit Card funding is not the primary reason for this account, but it certainly is the cherry on top since it is a great way to meet minimum spending.  The real reason for being amazing:

5x Debit Card Points for PIN Transactions

From a manufactured spending perspective, a PIN Transaction is something like a Money Order.  With the USPS limits we could look at $1000 MO for $1.60 netting us 5000 points.  There is nothing that cheap out there.  But, and here is why I haven’t shared the name of the bank until I have taken the time to test it out, there is no proof yet that a Money Order will generate points.

This is why finding real gems like this is so hard, you need to firstly find great terms and conditions, and then tease out each angle for points earning – next questions would be:

• Can I send 10,000 a month for free using Square Cash and earn 50,000 points a month for almost zero effort and time?
• Can I pay my taxes with it and earn 5x with minimal costs?
• What X Ultimate Rewards do 5X Points equal?

What is a point worth?

Here’s the catch, it is not 5% Cashback it is 5 ‘points’ points are a currency, just like your favorite airline miles or hotel points, so not only do they have an inbound price to generate, and an outbound price to redeem, for example when using Money Orders:

5x 1,001.60 = 5,008 points for $1.60 and a cost per point of $0.0003

Compare that with the best deal in recent times, the 5x Ink Bold for Vanilla Reloads:

5X$503.95 = 2519 points for $3.95 and a cost per point of $0.0016

If you notice the decimal places, that makes these new points 1/5 of the cost to generate as the Ultimate Rewards were when they earned 5x… but we cannot forget outbound costs when we are comparing, since spending the points isn’t always equal.

This program has a really neat redemption system, with lots of options.  And no doubt a depth of value within each category.

I’ll leave you with this teaser though… Hyatt Elite Level Gift Certs (1 Night) would cost about $15 if the Money Orders work…these retail for $260 each… plus they have options where you can earn flyer points on your award.

EDIT -Unfortunately due to my inability to read terms and conditions, Money Orders would not work for this.  If I can get Square Cash or other ideas to work we might have some legs here, otherwise, it may be another dead end…