Did you know that even if a vendor does not accept credit cards, you can still pay them with a credit card using third-party bill payment services?

Why pay the fee?

Obviously, you will need to pay a slight fee, as someone needs to swallow the credit card processing fee. But in many cases, it might be worth it for you to pay an approximate 3% fee in order to pay with a credit card. Some examples where this can apply may be:

• In order to reach a signup bonus
• Swiping the expense on a 0% APR credit card
• Reaching minimum spend to get a free night in a hotel or getting a higher status

So let’s discuss what your options are, as well as the pros and cons.

Plastiq

Plastiq allows you to pay almost everything with a credit card, including  mortgage, rent, utilities, car payments, vendors, and more. 

Fee: 2.9% fee. 

Which cards are accepted: Plastiq accepts Visa, Mastercard,, and Discover, but you will not be able to make purchases with Amex. 

Visa, Discover, Mastercard 

• Residential rent and mortgage
• Education 
• Select business services
• Buying inventory
• Taxes and government fees
• Vehicles and transportation
• Insurance
• Labor
• Utilities

Things to know 

• You can’t pay any vendors with AmEx
• Some debit cards have a 1% fee, so if you have a rewards debit card, it’s worth experimenting

Melio

Melio is another bill payment service where you can pay vendors who don’t accept credit cards.

Fee: 2.9% fee

Which cards are accepted: Melio accepts Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and Discover, but you will not be able to make certain purchases with Amex cards. 

Here are the expenses you can pay using Melio

Visa, Discover, Mastercard 

• Almost all business expenses (besides for payroll, cash advance, Pharmaceuticals, explosives, etc) 

Amex 

• Education expenses 
• Government expenses 
• Office Rent
• Office Utilities
• Memberships
• Professional Services
• Business Services
• Inventory
• Construction material and expenses 
• Logistics expenses 

Things to know 

• You can only use business credit cards (not personal cards)
• You can only pay businesses (not individuals). Melio will research the business being paid to verify they are a real business. They will look them up on D&B, etc) 
• You can’t pay all business vendor types with credit card (only the ones listed on top)
• They don’t accept prepaid cards or gift cards
• They accept debit cards, but the fees aren’t any lower than credit card payments
• You’ll have much better luck if you always upload an invoice when you initiate a payment
• You can’t pay for any inventory, goods, or services that haven’t been received (no pre-payments)

Bill.com

Bill.com is yet another bill payment service where you can pay vendors who don’t accept credit cards.

Fee: 2.9% fee + monthly subscription

Which cards are accepted: Melio accepts Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and Discover.

Here are the expenses you can pay using Bill.com

Visa, Discover, Mastercard, Amex

• Almost all business expenses (besides for payroll, cash advance, Pharmaceuticals, businesses that must comply with HIPAA regulations, etc)

Things to know 

• You have to have a subscription to use Bill.com’s payment service
• Subscriptions start at $45 per month, though there is a free trial
• International payments are supported
• There are identity verification requirements for Florida and New Mexico residents
• Bill.com lets you pay more types of business vendors than Melio

Thanks to the great Matthew Wood from Miles Earn And Burn for working with us to put together this post.