Drugstores is sometimes a bonus category with various credit cards, including this quarter’s Freedom 5x category on up to $1,500 in purchases. Reader Mark sent in a tip that it’s possible to pay some bills at the CVS register, pay with credit card, and earn 5x on the purchase since it codes like an ordinary drugstore purchase.
In Mark’s case, his local Blue Cross health insurance allows payment using CVS billpay, and explicitly allows credit card payment as well. The way it works, in his case, is that within the Blue Cross login, in the Pay Your Bill section, there’s an option to get a bar code which gets scanned at CVS at the regular register, and allows you to pay your insurance bill there. This triggers the 5% Freedom category, or any other Drugstores category you may have, e.g. on the Old Blue Cash card.
These are likely bills which can be paid, in any event, with a credit card. Due to the bonus multiplier at drugstores it could be worthwhile to make the payment at CVS instead.
This is what is shows for Mark in his Blue Cross login:
CVS/pharmacy® (except Target® locations) and Navarro accept cash, credit card and debit cards (checks not accepted). Dollar General accepts cash and debit cards only. Family Dollar accepts cash only. Your payment will be applied to your account within 5 business days.
Check out this Flyertalk thread about using the Moneygram machine at CVS. From a brief look, it appears that it’s cash only and comes with a fee. Not sure if the barcode/cashier payment is using Moneygram or some other system; whatever the case, apparently some bills can be paid there with a credit card. Good to know.
If anyone is aware of other bills or other insurers who accept this form of payment, please let us know in the comments below.
View Comments (64)
Which Visa GCs are available at CVS which can be loaded onto SERVE or use them to buy MOs?
Thanks
Can anyone please confirm if purchases at walgreens count for the 5%?? I bought some items and they code on online banking as HEALTH not drugstores.
I don't know for sure because I've stuck to CVS and my purchases counted towards the promo. Since you already bought the items, wait a few days and check the points activity under your CF card.
Not to brag but I actually wrote about this on DD forums back on Jan 11th. :)
https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=100694.msg2044698#msg2044698
I would like to add that if you link your chase card to the Drop app you get few more dollars for your Walgreens spend, if I am not mistaken it comes to around extra $12 for the full $1500 spend.
Not a lot but still a free $12 on top of the $75 UR points. Which is an extra 16% cash back.
You should have told us about it! ;)
Independence Blue Cross allows bill pay at CVS through Moneygram, but the website says "bring cash" and doesn't say anything about CCs. Poo.
Wells Fargo Go Far Rewards are offering 40% at CVS - would that not be a much better deal?
I have BlueCross Blueshield of Tennessee in Ohio, and can confirm this sorta. For as long as my health insurance provider has a contract with CareMark, part of CVS, I can do a bill pay instore for BlueCross Blueshield.
If the contract ever ceases to exist, if Incomm is still assisting cvs with Bill pay for Health insurance, they'll attempt to sign up for the Bill pay program.
Caremark, the mailorder part of CVS, also posts 5x. Might be worth changing the payment method to Freedom for 3 months.
That's a pretty good tip
I usually buy a gift card and then using that on my blue cross health insurance bill...
You buy GCs at a pharmacy to pay your health insurance every month? If so, what card to you use to offset the activation fees?
What GC do you buy to pay insurance? You mean VISA or MasterCard?
Either a visa or mastercard should work just fine.
I do the same to pay my car insurance.
thanks alot for posting and also to the mark who reported this.
We are all in this together. Happy to help those who have also helped me.