Imagine being able to charge anything you want to your credit or debit card, from hiring a celebrity chef to cater an entire affair to a no hold’s barred trip to Napa Valley to buying your own food truck to live out your entrepreneurial cuisine dreams to your kid’s culinary school tuition. One company—Plastiq—has made this elevated purchasing experience a reality. This new and unique service allows you to pay for things with your credit or debit card that you normally couldn’t…things like country club dues or even real estate. The possibilities are limitless. What’s more, there’s no participation necessary for the business or vendor you’re purchasing from you can seemingly use it anywhere.
How it works
To use this service, just create an account with Plastiq and simply choose which credit or debit card you want to use for payment. Select your recipient and Plastiq will transmit your payment in a form the recipient accepts, which is usually a check or electronic transfer. It’s that easy.
The financial advantage
Reports reveal that about 81 percent of affluent shoppers have rewards points or dollars at their disposal. Because Plastiq allows you to use your credit cards to purchase virtually anything, the potential for racking up rewards points is practically endless. Consider the possibilities for reward points on payments to the IRS, payments on home renovation projects or even for buying a horse (which, incidentally, has actually been done through Plastiq). Being able to use your credit card to purchase or pay out on big ticket items that typically don’t accept credit cards is truly a game changer.
User-friendly features
Plastiq offers a wide variety of features making it extremely easy to use. All you need to pay a service person or company through Plastiq is a name, address and phone number (or email address). Plastiq saves this information so you don’t have to enter it again. Plastiq also allows you to schedule payments and set up recurring payments so you never have to write a physical check or snail mail a bill again. You can add all your cards to your Plastiq account, so you can always choose when and how to utilize each card. Not only that, but your Plastiq account dashboard makes it easy to track payments and your account history as well as view real-time status updates on any transaction.
Why it’s safe
When it comes to keeping your personal and financial information safe, Plastiq leaves nothing to chance. The company reports that all data is encrypted using 256-bit Extended Validation (EV) Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption technology. Multiple authentication procedures for identity verification are used to prevent fraud and identity theft during both account registration and payment processing. Plastiq not only is compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) but exceeds industry standards. Finally, Plastiq uses Trustwave to ensure their system is secure.
The upshot
The next time you make a luxury purchase such as an epic celebrity chef experience, car, boat or even artwork to elevate your eating space, put it on Plastiq and reap the exact same rewards of a traditional credit card purchase. If you’re wondering if there’s a catch, there is. But it’s a tiny one. Plastiq does charge a 2.5 percent service fee per transaction. However, when you consider the potential for your rewards points to skyrocket, not to mention the convenience Plastiq offers, this is a relatively small fee for what can be an extremely large benefit. It’s certainly an option savvy shoppers should look into.
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“The Luxe List” Executive Editor Merilee Kern scours the luxury marketplace for exemplary travel experiences, extraordinary events, and notable products and services. Submissions are accepted at www.TheLuxeList.com. Follow her on Twitter here: www.Twitter.com/LuxeListEditor and Facebook here: www.Facebook.com/TheLuxeList.
Some or all of the accommodations(s), experience(s), item(s) and/or service(s) detailed above were provided at no cost and/or sponsored to accommodate this review, but all opinions expressed are entirely those of Merilee Kern and have not been influenced in any way.
