Everyone knows you can use a credit card to purchase products and services. Installment payments are one of the main payment methods. But few people know that it's possible to pay your bills using the available credit limit on your credit card and then pay the amount that appears on the statement.
But before putting everything on your payment card, please understand the fees and limitations of such payments. There's no need to postpone payment for later use, and there's no need to pay the entire bill.
How do I pay a bill using a credit card?
First, you should check if your card has this feature. Not all types of bills can be paid with a card. For example, most cards do not allow bill payments with another card.
Next, check if there is a charge for using the service and what the price is. We will discuss these costs below.
You can use this card to pay via Boleto as follows:
Access to banking operations via the Internet:
- Access your account through online banking. Look for the "Payment" option. Enter the blank code;
- Choose the payment method “Credit card”;
- Use a password to authorize the payment;
- Banking application; Telephone (call center);
- For banking applications, the device must be previously authorized at the ATM or online banking platform.
- In some cases, you may even need to contact your bank manager to publish this version.
- Through the call center, this is only possible if your bank provides this service.
- Therefore, be sure to check if your bank allows this and what the service costs.
Is it advantageous to pay bills with a credit card? Is it worth it?
Although the bank does not charge a fee for this service, paying the bill with a card is disadvantageous due to the use of IOF (Tax on Financial Transactions). All financial transactions are subject to a tax on financial transactions.
Therefore, if you have the money to pay your bills now, don't use your card to pay more. If you don't have the money now, carefully consider whether it's worth paying off the debt.
We do not recommend that you use this option because the fees charged by banks are usually very high (except for IOF charges, a tax on financial transactions).
We'll also recommend 3 widely used apps for paying bills with a credit card, check them out:
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Mercado Pago
Mercado Pago is a company owned by Mercado Libre, a digital wallet for purchasing goods on the marketplace. Aiming to reach new markets, Mercado Pago has expanded its services to include mobile phone billing, gift card sales, and its preferred payment method: credit card.
The platform allows the use of credit cards to pay bills up to R$ 500 per month. Unfortunately, not all bills are accepted.
Except for some other bills (e.g., apartment fees, taxes, and other expenses), preferred payments (water, electricity, telephone, etc.) can usually be accepted without any problem.
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PicPay
The app appeared with interesting and catchy names, attracting a young audience, and its main function was to facilitate payments between people.
The app charges a 2.99% fee for credit card payments. But how can you use PicPay to pay for free? Here's how: you can use your credit card to transfer R$800 per month for free to another PicPay account.
After doing this, you can use the account balance you received in the transfer to pay bills and invoices for free. PicPay offers this service to most distributors, meaning it's unlikely that payment orders will not be accepted.
See some tips:
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Pay Recharge
Recarga Pay is an app that recharges mobile phones and also offers other services, such as credit card payments. The free payment limit is R$100 per month.
However, the company announced that starting April 12, 2021, the limit will be increased to R$ 500. This is good news! There are no restrictions on transactions during the month. Unfortunately, the number of affiliated companies is slightly lower than Mercado Pago's. The complete list is available in the app.
If the free usage exceeds the limit, the charge on the current month's bill will be up to R$ 5,000, and a fee of 2.49% will be applied.
Above this amount, the rate will be 2.99%. But from April 26, 2021, regardless of the amount, the rate will be 2.99%. In this case, the app will notify you of the final transaction amount before completing it.
The app also offers a plan called Prime+, which costs 19.90 reais per month and provides a limit of 2,000 reais for bill payments.
Paying off other bills with your credit card is a good idea if the interest rate from the financial institution is low, but it's important to evaluate carefully to avoid losses.
Check your finances and organize your bills. Ideally, this shouldn't happen, but if you are caught off guard, it's important to know how to pay using your credit limit and then pay the bill amount plus interest on your statement.