Evolve Continues To Devolve

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Update 2, 02/23: The new Evolve rules charging a 3% fee go into effect tomorrow. For the time being Evolve is still allowing payments from credit cards as I posted in the 02/20 update without any fees! We’ll see how well they implement that 3% fee tomorrow..
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Update, 02/20: As pointed out in the comments, apparently Evolve is getting ready for next week and is processing many credit cards without a fee.  I entered Chase business cards, Citi cards, and Barclaycards as debit cards and they all allowed bill payments with no fees. Chase consumer cards came up as being subject to a 3% fee.  The new rules take effect next week, so take advantage today if you want to pay some bills with your credit card.

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Originally posted on 02/19:

Evolve Money burst onto the scene last year, offering the ability to pay bills for free via debit and gift cards.  The widely known secret at the time (at least for anyone who does a little research on sites like DDF) was that they accepted credit cards as well.

Throughout last year the program had numerous downgrades.  As soon as some blogs publicized the credit card aspect of the program they shut down the ability to pay bills for free with most cards (though some cards remained viable for a little while longer).  At that point it was still possible to make unlimited payments with gift cards that could be bought at stores that offered 5 points per dollar. Then they started limiting payments to 4 per bill per month. And then they went down to just 1 payment per bill per month.

Starting next week they’ll be adding a 3% fee for payments made via gift cards, effectively killing the value proposition.  Payments made with debit cards from “smaller banks” will also have a 3% fee, likely killing funding from debit cards that still earn miles. For now 1 debit card payment per month per bill from larger banks or from cash load packs remains free. So be on the lookout for where you can buy Reloadit packs with your credit card.

One thing is certain, I don’t think my Gap or Banana card will be sending me any more 5 figure refund checks anytime soon 😉

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59 Comments On "Evolve Continues To Devolve"

All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.

TDWECK

Evolve to devolve…I see what you did there. Keep bringing the fire, Dan 🙂

Shmuel

Yeah, I was bummed when I got the email about this. I guess maybe some decent news tho is that they have started to accept regular visa and mastercard credit cards. So, if like me, you have a nice size loan payment to be made each month, you can get some spend that way.

Avi

Kind of confused with the last sentence. What do Gap and Banana Republic have to do anything to do with Evolve Money?

DT

@Avi

The game was to apply lots of prepaid cards to the store credit card and then ask for a refund of the overpayment. Evolve specifically mentions that this is prohibited in their new Terms of Service.

Avi

DT, thank you for the explanation! Wish I would have know about that one sooner!

Dan

@Shmuel:
You’d be nuts to pay 3% for that.

@Avi:
That’s what the seminars are for.

Gust

@Shmuel I also have a student loan payment. But I just use my credit card to load my Target Pre-Paid card (but everyone might not be able to get one) and pay that way.

Dan's the Man

You can use a CC for Free today. Click on DC and enter the CC info. Saw this on DDF today. I guess we have 1 last time of the good old days. Both Visa & Mastercard worked for me with no fee.

mh

CC are working today w/o 3% fee?

Avi

Dan, you need to come to Baltimore. Will be happy to set everything up. I’ve saved a lot of money because of your website and am a very big fan! Going to India in a few months and have been on a cruise completely paid for by points. Started with all this in August 2014. The cruise would have cost $3000. Let me know if you are interested in pursuing Baltimore.
Avi D.

Dan

@Dan’s the Man:
Tried a MC and Visa as a DC and both said 3% fee.

@Avi:
It’s on the list.

Shmuel

@Dan
Didn’t realize about that fee since paying bills with my CC wasn’t an option till recently. Thanks for pointing it out.

Dan's the Man

@Dan: Enter your CC in the debit card section (as if your CC is a debit card).

Dan

@Dan’s the Man:
Read my comment again.

Which bank did you use?

Dan's the Man

@Dan: I used a Citi AAdvantage Mastercard and a US Bank Club Carlson Visa (fufilling sign up bonuses with both of those and already used up this month’s RedBird limit 🙂 ). This was over an hour ago so maybe they fixed it already. I hope they doesn’t add a fee to my card retroactively.

Dan

@Dan’s the Man:
Doubt they’d add a fee, though they may just cancel it.

Steve

@TDWECK:
Lol, one of his better ones

HelpME

@DT: That was the minor leagues.

Dan's the Man

@DT: You were also able to pay your mortgage, car loan, even the NY 529 plan! Too bad it’s going away.

heather

Are there limits on how many payments you can make per month or amounts if you use reloadits?

eli

how can i pay my honda car lease with a credit card?

cak144

@Gust: Gust — how do you pay a student loan with a Target prepaid card?

Eli

@Avi: LOL! LOL

Mike

@Dan: if you still do this with gift cards bought from stores where you can get 5 points per dollar isn’t it still worth it? You pay 3% but get 5 points which are definitely worth more than double the 3% you paid and maybe more depending on how you use them. Am I wrong?

chana k

Besides for Dan being The Man!
Thanks Dan’s the Man! Citi AA.

bob

@Dan: I just used a barclay card and it worked

Michael

@dan
Is there a limit on how much I can pay Macy’s?

Anonymous

where can we purchase reloadits with cc?

ink working

thanks for the update!

Dan's the Man

@Dan: Glad it’s working for you now Dan! Do you think it’s ok to pay a retail credit card (such as macy’s & Target) even if they currently have a $0 balance and then just call them to send a check for the credit balance?

Dan's the Man

@chana k: No prob Chana. Glad I can help you out!

bob

@Dan’s the Man: it works, that’s what dan wrote that he was getting checks from Gap

joeb1

charging me a fee for citi visa

depressed

my british airlines card from chase didn’t work.

Anonymous

Next week starts on sunday the 22nd??

Anonymous

And what would be the next best way to cash out the visa gift cards?? or is there a better or easier way to get miles?

Shlomo

Hi need help. Need to pay for 2 very big construction projects using a CC for materials. NO GC – Which 1?

Thanks in advance.

Anonymous

Any American express cards? or what would be the best choice?? TY

2x

hows anyone been able to pay a provider more than once? for instance student loans. i rushed yesterday i paid a $100 and now my CC is working

jack

can you pay a credit card bill with a gc on evolve?

Mimi K.

@2x I paid Geico and JCP&L twice last month.
One day apart

hvaces42

What stops me from setting up payments for the next x amount of months if cc works and there are no fees?

Alpicone

Still working today. I wish I figured out how to pay the same vendor multiple times before today 😉

yy

chase visa biz ask for CVV – Is it still just 3 digits? does not accept, keep asking, unless its becuase amount is over $500?

yy

chase cc account shows “vesta evolve money”. not name of payable to. would it be ok w chase?

yy

chase security fraud stopped all, and have a long wait time…
guess everyone is trying
😉

ExGingi

For some reason I originally thought that the $999 daily limit was total for all payments on evolve per day. But then decided to try and lump two bills together. So here’s what I got on my Ink:

02/22/2015 Pending VESTA EVOLVE MONEY $1,663.61
02/21/2015 Pending VESTA EVOLVE MONEY $999.00
02/20/2015 Pending VESTA EVOLVE MONEY $999.00

bob

it’s still working today

frumjew777

I don’t get it. Aren’t all bills payable by credit card, and free as well?

What kind of bills are we speaking about? Credit card bills?

Joe S

Can anyone confirm if US Bank Visa cards charge a cash advance for Evolve?

HDS

@ExGingi

Evolve confirmed to me that $999 is the max per bill per day, regardless of payment method, but the max – combined, for all bills – per day via CC or GC is $2999.

You still can’t pay a single bill twice in a month via GC/CC, though.

Moshe

Is there any way to get money off gift cards. I want the cash

Username

Evolve Continues To Devolve…With a little help from Dan.

Dan's the Man

Update- Some of my initial Evolve payments have posted at the companies. Charge is still pending on my Credit Cards but the amount is the no original amount. So far no additional fees.

Dan's the Man

@frumjew777: Retail credit cards (i.e. Target, Macy’s, Gap, etc), mortgate, car loans, student loan payments, even some 529 plans can be paid via Evolve.

Manny

@Dan
So where can I finish off my gift cards from now??

savta

just used my gc to pay my water bill and there was no fee charged

Shmulie

It looks like its still working

BB

It’s still working even CC for free (if you add it as Debit card). I also noticed that they allow you to make more than one payment in the same month. Now is the time to make as many payments as possible.

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