Any disclosable manufactured spend tips?

Cheers Gagravarr! - there's a post up about it now. Looks exceptionally interesting. I've ordered one, and we'll just have to see how it plays out I suppose. Well worth a punt in my view.
 
According to Raffles on Head For Points, the Curve business model relies on the EU interchange cap being consumer-only, and not applying to Business Cards. That's why they need you to say you're a Business or Self Employer (or similar) customer, so they're allowed to then issue you a Business card. Apparently, those have interchange fees up around the 1.3% mark, far higher than the consumer 0.3% cap that's coming in, and provides their margin. So, Curve will net themselves around 1.3%, pay out only around 0.3% on the onward charge to your Visa / MasterCard (or higher but still sub-1.3% to Amex), and the rest is theirs to fund the whole thing

Cash Withdrawls they still look to loose money on, so I suspect they'll need to set the "fair use limit" on those pretty low to not loose out

Interesting thing for me will be what places will let you use it without fee. If it could be used with HMRC without their credit card surcharge, it could make a big difference. Utility Companies could be another good one - while I won't go to a huge amount of trouble to pre-pay my electricity for rewards on my points-earning visa card, for an Amex it's a different story. Some travel providers charge a fee for using a credit card, if any of those took it as a debit / no-fee card that'd help too.

We'll have to see what it's really like in a few weeks when they're sent out. Well, unless any of the private beta customers can shed some light sooner!
 
Until mid January, you can pay / overpay many kinds of tax bills with HMRC for low-ish credit card fees. 0.5% or even less for most non-business rewards credit cards

Assuming you're signed up for self assessment, you ought to be able to overpay by up to a few grand without too much issue / complaints, then get it refunded to your bank account in April / May once you've submitted your self assessment claim

I still find the best way is to go out with friends who don't care about points, then pick up the whole bill at the end on my points credit card (waitstaff like that there's just one person paying!) and get cash back from everyone there.

Curve still lets you take £200 out for free in cash each month, which can add up a bit over a year
 
Gagravarr said:
Until mid January, you can pay / overpay many kinds of tax bills with HMRC for low-ish credit card fees. 0.5% or even less for most non-business rewards credit cards

Assuming you're signed up for self assessment, you ought to be able to overpay by up to a few grand without too much issue / complaints, then get it refunded to your bank account in April / May once you've submitted your self assessment claim

I still find the best way is to go out with friends who don't care about points, then pick up the whole bill at the end on my points credit card (waitstaff like that there's just one person paying!) and get cash back from everyone there.

Curve still lets you take £200 out for free in cash each month, which can add up a bit over a year
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Yes, the trick with that though is to make sure you have the right card with you and actually know the pin :)

More seriously, I might start conducting some experiments if I get some time...
 
Sadly the new EU rules about credit card fees means that from mid-January 2018 you won't be able to pay your income tax bill with a personal credit card anymore, so this is a one-time chance to earn points. You will also need to ensure you file your return and pay your tax bill before the usual January 31st deadline.
 
tommyl said:
Absolutely you can. You may get some odd questions from TFL staff if you do it at the same station so maybe mix it up a bit, but you're entitled to the refund.

I once did it on numerous occasions over a short period to meet the spend threshold on the SPG Amex.

It used to be particularly appealing with the Amex Gold card, when you also got 2 points per £1 spent on travel-related spend!
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I love this tip!! Excellent, thanks :-)
 
Thanks tommyl for the oyster MS, is that just for new oysters or existing ones too?
Thanks
 
Hi,

Can anyone advise here if they know any way to liquidate or withdraw using an Optimum card without having to actually lose out through a fee?
 
tommyl said:
It's always a difficult one this, as generally the success of a good manufactured spending route is dependent on it staying secret and so only being used by a few people.

Here's a starter option though, that I've used to good effect when I'm a few hundred pounds short of my spend target.
  • Load an Oyster card with £90 (the maximum, plus there's the £5 spend for the card deposit).
  • Ask for a refund.
  • They will refund it, but only to a card. Just pop in your debit card when prompted, and there you have it. £95 flipped from your credit card into your debit card account.
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Can you still do this at stations? Can't you only get a refund of £10 from machines and any more you have to contact TFL?
 
Not a big spend but i use amex via paypal to pay for my montly first bus ticket £48, and also use virgin mastercard to pay for council tax bill of £172 each month, stevie
 
Since the EU ban on charging additional credit card handling fees, my local council has stopped accepting credit cards entirely. No more manufactured spend there then :(
 
UKNoobie said:
It most certainly does! Given that there's a fairly obvious loophole, do you have any experience in whether that results in a ban / any consequences if you exploit it?
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Not yet...but if you really valued your relationship with Curve (i'm not sure why you would particularly) it would probably be prudent to give it a miss.
 
Damn looks like I'm late to the party on this one (Curve). Does the Oyster card trick from the beginning of this thread still work?
 
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