[Expired] Chase Amazon Card: Get 5% Back on Bill Payments for Insurance, Utilities, Phone Service, Cable; Max $500 Cashback

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The Offer

Direct Link to offer (activate at this link)

• Earn 5% Back on up to $10,000 in purchases when you pay select bills with your Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card between January 15 and April 15, 2019.
• Included Categories: Internet, Cable, and Phone Service; Utilities; Insurance.

Reader Ryan Goldstein supplied us with the direct link. I didn’t yet get an email, but was able to activate it there. Even non-Prime members who have the 3% card are getting this offer. It is, however, targeted, as the link above does not work for everyone.

The Fine Print

• Must activate offer first.
• 5% Back: To be eligible for this offer, you must log on to the website referenced in this offer and enroll by 03/31/19, 11:59 p.m. EST.
• You’ll earn 5% Back for each $1 spent, on up to $10,000 in total spend on combined purchases in the reward categories listed below during the promotional period (4% additional Back on top of the 1% Back earned on each purchase). This equates to 5 points for each $1 spent, until you reach the $10,000 limit. After $10,000 on combined purchases in the reward categories listed below, you go back to earning 1% Back rewards for every dollar spent, with no maximum.
• For a purchase to qualify for this offer, the merchant must submit charges to your credit card by the last day of the promotional period 04/15/19.
• All of your eligible purchases during the promotional period will be automatically counted, as long as you have enrolled by 03/31/2019.
• Please allow up to 8 weeks after qualifying purchases post to your account for 5% Back to post to your account.
• To be eligible for this offer, your account must be open and not in default at the time of fulfillment.
• Rewards Categories: Internet, Cable, and Phone Service category merchants provide internet, cable, satellite television, radio, cellular, wireless data, and landline services.
• In addition, if you purchase or pay for your internet, cable and satellite television, phone or related services in a merchant’s store that is not registered by the merchant in the applicable services category, the purchase or payment will not qualify; for example, phone bill payments in a merchant’s store that register to Chase as a telephone equipment store.
• Utility category merchants provide electric, household fuel, water, and sanitation.
• Please note that purchases of equipment and some merchants that sell utility-related goods and services are not included; for example, electronics or other retail stores and merchants offering maintenance and cleaning services.
• Insurance category merchants provide health, automobile, homeowners, medical, and life insurance.
• What determines whether a merchant falls into a category? Merchants who accept Visa/MasterCard credit cards are assigned a merchant code, which is determined by the merchant or its processor in accordance with Visa/MasterCard procedures based on the kinds of products and services they primarily sell. We group similar merchant codes into categories for purposes of making offers to you.
• Please note: We make every effort to include all relevant merchant codes in our categories. However, even though a merchant or some of the items that it sells may appear to fit within a category, the merchant may not have a merchant code in that category. When this occurs, purchases with that merchant won’t qualify for offers on purchases in that category.
• Purchases submitted by you, an authorized user, or the merchant through third-party payment accounts, mobile or wireless card readers, online or mobile digital wallets, or similar technology will not qualify in a category if the technology is not set up to process the purchase in that category.
• This promotional offer is non-transferable. For more information about your rewards program, see your Rewards Program Agreement.

Our Verdict

Overall, it’s a terrific offer with a high maximum bonus. I wouldn’t value this as a $500 bonus since you can easily get $200-$250 with a 2-2.5% card, but it’s still a nice gain.

For those with an INK card who already get bonus rewards on the Phone and Cable categories, it’s probably the Insurance and Utilities categories which you’ll want to target to see if you can max this out. Consider paying out your utilities and insurances (car, health, life, etc) for the rest of the year at this 5% cashback rate. Worth doing a small test first to make sure it codes properly.

Another idea mentioned on r/churning is that Plastiq codes certain payees as Utilities and that might work for this. Let us know if you try. (Update: does not work)

Hat tip to readers Ryan, Benny, Jeremy