Plastiq Has a Competitor! Check Out Melio Bill Payment Service (A Good Option for Earning a Small Business Credit Card Welcome Bonus)

Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

Update:   One or more card offers in this post are no longer available.  Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

Melio is very similar to Plastiq in that it’s a bill payment service you can use to pay payees that normally don’t accept credit cards.  The main difference being that Melio is targeting business owners whereas you can use Plastiq to pay things like mortgages.

Melio could be useful when it comes to meet minimum spending requirements to earn the sign-up bonus on a small business credit card, like the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card. 

Here’s what you need to know.

Melio Bill Payment Service – Great for Small Business Credit Cards

Melio, just like Plastiq, will send a check to the business you want to pay for a 2.5% fee.  You can pay nearly any business bill with a Visa, MasterCard or Discover credit card for a flat 2.5% fee.  On their site they say that if you’re interested in using an AMEX card to email them.  So I guess they’re currently working to accept AMEX cards in the near future or trying to gauge interest in using AMEX cards.

Melio sends an electronic or paper check on your behalf.  So you can pay nearly any bill with a credit card, even if the business doesn’t accept credit cards! 

Just note, according to reports, Melio requires your social security number for verification and also likes to speak directly to new users, so be prepared for a phone call if you decide to use their service.

Melio can be useful to meet minimum spending requirements to earn the sign-up bonus on a great small business card like the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card.  But personally I’ve never used it, so I can’t vouch for the service.

Let’s say you make a $1,000 payment through Melio.  You’ll pay a $25 fee, for a total of $1,025.  If you’re close to earning a sign-up bonus it could be worth it to pay $25 for thousands of miles or points.

But if you’ll only earn 2% cash back, or 1 mile or point per $1 spent, it isn’t worth it to pay the 2.5% fee.  As always, run the numbers to make sure it’s a good deal for you!

The bottom line is, competition like this is usually a good thing for us consumers.  Maybe we’ll see a deal or two from these bill payment services!

If you want more miles & points news, subscribe to our newsletter.