Can You Pay Your Mortgage With a Credit Card?
Lenders do not take cards directly
Mortgage lenders do not accept credit cards, because the card fees would eat their margin, so there is no direct way to charge your monthly payment. The workaround is a third-party bill-payment service that charges your card and sends the lender a check or bank transfer. Those services charge a fee of roughly 2.9 to 3 percent, which is the whole catch.
The fee kills everyday rewards
At about 3 percent, the fee is higher than any flat cash-back card earns, so paying your mortgage by card every month purely for points is a guaranteed loss. If you just want rewards on housing, a far better move is a card that earns on rent through a fee-free path, or simply paying the mortgage from your bank for free. See paying rent with a card.
When it is worth the fee: a welcome bonus
The exception is a welcome bonus. A single mortgage payment is often $1,500 to $3,000 or more, enough to clear most minimum-spend requirements at once. If a new card offers a $1,000-plus bonus for that spend, paying a month or two of mortgage through a service, fee and all, can net an effective 15 to 25 percent return. Run the fee against the bonus, charge only what you can pay off, and stop once the minimum is met. See meeting minimum spend.
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