Talked to a couple of friends this weekend who explained how they basically leverage their credit cards for arbitrage.
Had one friend who opened a credit card in her dogs name (which didn't card interest for 18 months) then paid bills through venmo to hit the card, but would take the bill money, invest it, and pay everything down before the interest kicked in. This allows them to collect dividends/capital gain (if there is any).
I don't do anything to this extent, but that seems like its playing with fire. I also think I'm a little novice to the credit card game, and always find it interesting how people use them (for above or for points). Just wanted to see if anyone did anything similar.
Can you ask your friend what credit card issuer will hand out a credit card without a social security number?
Asking for a friend.
Ill have to ask...that part confused me as well when I thought about it after our conversation (I was half listening at some parts).
I don't do any fraud (dog's name? really?) but I definitely churn cards for sign up bonuses and assign my spending according to which gains the most points.
I don't do this because I'm not a scum bag, but some guys I knew in college would have these Twitter credit card 'scammers' get them pretty much anything half off. Twitter guy buys a bunch of stolen credit cards off dark web, orders items for people (my scummy friends), and then they venmo him half the amount of the purchase, and he'd pocket that real money. They mostly used it for meals and would just go pickup the food, but they could do it for Walmart grocery, liquor store pickups, protein powder, etc. Not too sketchy for them since they've been doing it for years without fail, but overall scummy to inconvenience people with false charges on their cards
And you know, the part where they ultimately stick the bank, merchant, or insurance company with the bill. They're committing fraud and stealing. They're scummy because they're criminals.
Saying she took out a card for her dog means she's either telling tales or committing fraud.
That said, it's a really interesting loophole to consider... Typically for a business to accept credit card payments, they have to pay a certain small percentage of all receipts to the CC company. But if Venmo allows an individual to accept CC payments without a fee (is this true?), then two real people could do this. Max the credit card, accept the $ via venmo, put it in an online HY savings, collect interest, pay back principal, and repeat in perpetuity. Meanwhile the holder of the card is racking up rewards.
Should have done my research before I posted the above. Your friend is either a liar or an idiot:
From Investopedia:
Sending money using Venmo comes with a standard 3% fee, but the company waives that expense when the transaction is funded with your Venmo balance, bank account or debit card.
There is a 3% fee that is not waived when sending money from a credit card. This fee originates with the credit card companies; Venmo passes the expense along.
So to make this profitable you need to exceed a 3% monthly return. Worst. Scam. Ever.
Fair point. Thank you for doing the research/explaining that as well.
I thought it was fishy, but something I brushed off; similar to when someone tells you they are always winning at the casino.
My thought is always, if its that simple to figure out, everyone should do it. Also, Venmo/Credit cards have smart people working for them, I'm assuming they know the scams they are trying to avoid having pulled on them.
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