You can pay bills with a credit card as long equally the entity you're paying allows it, and many do. Paying bills with a credit menu tin streamline your bill-pay process, plus you might be able to earn rewards. That said, to avoid costly interest payments on bills, try to pay off your credit menu residue in full each month. Consider these tips for using your credit card responsibly when paying bills:

  • Which bills tin yous pay with your credit card?
  • Should y'all pay bills with a credit card?
  • How to pay bills with your credit card the right way
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Which bills can you pay with your credit card?

More than you might recall. Generally, you tin use a credit menu to pay for bills like:

  • Utility bills, including h2o, gas and electrical
  • Cellular or landline phone service
  • Cable and net
  • Streaming and subscription services
  • Insurance
  • Storage
  • Medical bills
  • Federal and land taxes

If you lot're not sure about a particular beak, cheque with the billing department to verify their credit card credence policy.

Should you pay bills with a credit card?

At that place are some pros and cons to paying bills with a credit card. Weigh the good confronting the bad to decide if it's the correct move for you. Here's a breakup of what to consider:

The pros:

  • Paying with a credit carte du jour can salvage you fourth dimension.Setting up automatic payments for bills using your credit card could brand information technology easier to avoid late fees and reduce the amount of time you spend managing your finances.
  • You could earn rewards. Rewards credit cards like those from Notice generate greenbacks back, miles or points that y'all can utilize toward travel, souvenir cards and more than. If you have a carte du jour that pays cash dorsum on every purchase, for example, using it to pay bills could put some of what you spend back in your pocket.
  • Paying bills with your credit carte du jour can help yous budget. When you're charging all of your bills to one credit card each month, information technology's easier to get a bird'due south eye view of where your coin is going. You tin can runway what you owe, then allot a lump sum to cover all of those expenses when y'all pay your credit card bill at the end of the month.

The cons:

  • You might run into fees. One potential downside of paying bills with a credit bill of fare is that some vendors and services tack on a credit card processing fee. You lot'll have to weigh those fees against the benefit you'd get from using the credit card, but some fees are difficult to justify. If your electric company charges $5.95 to accept your credit carte du jour payment, for case, it may exist better to pay with another method if you can swing it.
  • Interest charges can utilise if you acquit a balance. If your credit card charges a high annual pct rate (APR) for purchases and you don't programme to pay your credit card bill in full, paying with a credit card could be an expensive way to embrace your bills. That's especially truthful if you're using your credit card to pay an involvement-bearing loan, which means you'd be paying interest on interest.
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How to Pay Bills With a Credit Card the Correct Style

If you're planning to pay bills with a credit carte du jour, here are a few best practices to go on in heed:

  1. Stick with one card for paying bills.Choosing one card to pay bills makes more sense than spreading payments out over several cards, from a convenience and tracking perspective. If y'all're line-fishing for rewards, be sure that the carte du jour yous choose offers rewards for everyday purchases, including bill payments.
  2. Plan to pay your credit card in full each month.Paying interest on any neb paid with your credit carte du jour increases the cost of those bills, and information technology can diminish the value of any rewards you may exist earning. When you lot're mapping out your budget, be sure to prepare aside enough money in reserve to pay your credit carte in full when the bill comes due.
  3. Go on an eye on your credit utilization ratio.Your credit utilization ratio, or the amount of your bachelor credit you're using, is i factor that impacts your credit score. If you're charging close to your card limit or maxing it out every month to pay bills, you lot may be causing your credit score to fluctuate.
  4. Don't put big bills on a credit card if you tin't pay them.A rule of pollex when using your credit card: Don't spend more than than you tin can afford or else information technology could get out of hand very chop-chop. For case, if you lot pay your mortgage with your credit carte, instead of paying 4 percent interest on your mortgage, you could terminate up paying sixteen percent, 22 percent or college.

A credit card can come up in handy when you take bills to pay, only it's important to wait at the pros and cons of paying with credit. Do your homework so y'all empathize the potential cost involved and weight those confronting whatsoever rewards you stand to earn.