Direct Debit maximising returns

born_again

pecunianonolet said:

I am not eligible for any switching bonus for at least the next 1-2 years. I've got current accounts with I think 10 banks.

I am asking specifically if there are options to maximise returns with direct debits as I may miss something, maybe not.

Fair enough.

Perhaps drop some of them, might come back sooner. 👍

username

Where you can and it doesn't cost you more, pay by card as opposed to direct debit - some gas/electricity companies can allow payment by card, I pay a nominal amount to Octopus via DD and then the remainder as a once off payment via Amex. My account has DD rates for the tariff.

Try and find a Mastercard that will offer some sort of reward - e.g. I have the Virgin Atlantic and HSBC Rewards ones where you can collect airmiles or points, where Amex is not accepted.

The kicker I have is council tax - strangely the council accept payment only via debit card or direct debit and there seems to be no workaround for it. No paypoint cards etc, nearly £1.5k worth of spend with nothing earnt on (!).
What is the Zopa cashback, do you need to switch to their account to be eligible?

friolento

username said:

What is the Zopa cashback, do you need to switch to their account to be eligible?

You must have a Zopa current account, which is currently only in Beta and only available on invite. You can join the waitlist for it - google Zopa current account.

The cashback is worth max £30 a year, and they may or may not extend it after the first year

crumpet_man

username said:

Where you can and it doesn't cost you more, pay by card as opposed to direct debit - some gas/electricity companies can allow payment by card, I pay a nominal amount to Octopus via DD and then the remainder as a once off payment via Amex. My account has DD rates for the tariff.

Try and find a Mastercard that will offer some sort of reward - e.g. I have the Virgin Atlantic and HSBC Rewards ones where you can collect airmiles or points, where Amex is not accepted.

The kicker I have is council tax - strangely the council accept payment only via debit card or direct debit and there seems to be no workaround for it. No paypoint cards etc, nearly £1.5k worth of spend with nothing earnt on (!).
What is the Zopa cashback, do you need to switch to their account to be eligible?

The free Curve card might work for paying the council tax, depending on the MCC used by the council and which underlying credit card is used.

username

Thanks both for the info, I think shall give the Zopa account a miss for the time being, too much uncertainty and waiting around plus it is currently a beta trial.

Re the curve card does the free one allow fronted spending without a charge? The website does not make it clear.
Edit: it seems there's a 2.5% charge for using a credit card on the basic plan: https://curve.kustomer.help/en_us/what's-curve-fronted-rkuEB_2Iu
Although, it is contradicted by this page: https://help.curve.com/en_us/which-transactions-will-curve-fronted-fees-apply-to-r1FErO38_ which says the 2.5% fee only applies to certain MCCs as crumpet_man alludes to.

Scenario here: If I was to use Curve Pay (the free tier) and the HSBC rewards card, and assuming the council doesn't use one of the MCC would I have to pay the 2.5%? I get Curve want to upsell to the paid plans but which is it? Fee for everything with an underlying credit card, or 2.5% for specific MCCs?

pecunianonolet

username said:

Thanks both for the info, I think shall give the Zopa account a miss for the time being, too much uncertainty and waiting around plus it is currently a beta trial.

Re the curve card does the free one allow fronted spending without a charge? The website does not make it clear.
Edit: it seems there's a 2.5% charge for using a credit card on the basic plan: https://curve.kustomer.help/en_us/what's-curve-fronted-rkuEB_2Iu
Although, it is contradicted by this page: https://help.curve.com/en_us/which-transactions-will-curve-fronted-fees-apply-to-r1FErO38_ which says the 2.5% fee only applies to certain MCCs as crumpet_man alludes to.

Scenario here: If I was to use Curve Pay (the free tier) and the HSBC rewards card, and assuming the council doesn't use one of the MCC would I have to pay the 2.5%? I get Curve want to upsell to the paid plans but which is it? Fee for everything with an underlying credit card, or 2.5% for specific MCCs?

Also interested in the Curve option but general consensus online is that the great features and use of the past have ceased to exist with the introduction of fees for credit cards as underlying payment source.

Anything that accrues fees is a no go. I may try out to pay gas and electricity manually by card before the statement is created, which should wave the direct debit to provide credit card points for spending on it.