According to myFICO user UpperNwGuy has received a letter from PenFed stating that effective March 1st, 2020 the following cash-like transactions will be treated like cash advances with no grace period and subject to cash advance APR:
- Online transfers to a deposit account
- Purchases of casino gaming instruments
- Purchases of travelers checks
- Race track wagers or similar
- Purchases of money orders
- Purchases of foreign currency
- Purchases of lottery tickets
- Purchases of cryptocurrency
- Making a payment using a third party service
Seems like they’re following navy federal’s lead, at least with regards to plastiq.
What does “Online transfers to a deposit account” mean? Does a transfer via ACH to an external bank account count? That seems unlikely, but not clear above.
There’s a reason for things not being clear. Those doing it will know. For the others, it doesn’t matter so much.
How come things like this only get mentioned on here when they are shut-down? Might have been useful to know the option to use this feature.
Because posting a play here is a sure fire way to kill it.
Well then how do I find out about them?
You don’t. They’re secret.
Get off your ass and experament with new plays & ideas on your own. Nothing gets handed out for free on sites like this until it’s walking dead.
Read, remember, and apply to new situations.
Example: 2 years ago prepaidian ran a couple of prepaid cards for a number of small things – like JNF and a Boys and Girls club. Everyone said they were garbage because credit card loads were cash advances. If those cards are still around, maybe now you have a card for free load until March of 2020.
If you want a chance at a unicorn than read every dead deal and ask two questions: 1 – what’s the general pattern, 2 – Have I tried that with my routine.
There’s still lot of opportunity here. Maybe theres a crypto hub with fees that make it profitable. The cruise angle. Maybe a casino+travel angle at airport slots or gas station poker machines. Maybe an airport currency exchange cart with narrow margins. A racetrac where you can hedge a race to even odds.
You have 3 months to find an angle and burn it into the ground.
Or if you want rewards with no risk/effort there are sign up bonuses and checking accounts.
maybe its for funding bank account openings with credit cards. i dont do that with penfed because i can get better options with other cards
Thanks for the heads up on this one. Was nice while it lasted.
What about paying people for services via Venmo and things like that?
I have 3 PENFED CCs. Thus far, I have only received the letter with respect to only the PENFED Defender AMEX, not the Pathfinder AMEX or the old Cash Visa, which I also have. The PENFED AMEX Cards had been capable of loading Serve cards and receiving cash back/points, which would appear to be now precluded as “online transfers to a deposit account.” The defender card is marketed primarily at active duty military, so a pretty narrow audience. Perhaps I will receive additional letters regarding the pathfinder AMEX and the Visa later this week….
i’m amazed serve lasted as long as it did
Some person was making a pretty penny if they are changing this. Wonder what method they were using.
IIRC some people would/could/can gamble on Caribbean cruises – some cruise ships allowed chips it to be billed to room and give you chips that could be cashed out (play a few hands or slots – then cash out) – in ports of call that had US Bank branches on foreign soil people would deposit the cash – rinse repeat – then returning to US declare cash as required.
Yeah, but thats not Penfed specific play, had to be some P2P or B2B that was coding as purchases maybe in a bonus category.
while i agree that it’s possible this card was being exploited with some kind of loophole like alliant was (with google pay and some other avenues im not going to mention), this post doesnt necessarily mean that’s the case
So then I can make my payments with used non winning lottery tickets because hey it’s considered CASH according to them.
so was it possible to just buy $2500 in money orders with the card to meet minimum spend requirement on Pathfinder?…
But where can you buy a money order with a credit card?
https://www.thebalance.com/can-you-buy-a-money-order-with-a-credit-card-4152040