Want at least $20 for free? Need to beef up some charges to earn the bonus points on a new credit card? Could you use an interest and fee-free $2,000 loan for a few weeks? With this deal from Square any of these are possible.
Square offer
It had been almost a year, so the other day I thought I’d log in and see if anything had changed over at Square and was greeted with the above offer.
For several years I’ve had an account with Square. If I recall correctly they were the first company that offered individuals the ability to accept payments via credit cards on their smartphones. The fees are about what you would expect… 2.75% per swipe (a bit more if the card must be entered manually).
It’s easy to sign up, get a free card swiper, and open for business (or non-business… have your friends pay you back with their credit cards!)
The Square Offer
Process $2,000 free for each friend you refer to Square
- Send your invitation link below to friends.
- When your friend activates a Square account through your link, they can process up to $2,000 in credit card sales for free during their first 180 days.
- For each friend who successfully activates a Square account, you get free processing on your next $2,000 in sales over the next 180 days.
No fees to process $2000 of charges? 2.75% of $2000 is $55. Square is willing to eat $55 to get you signed up. That’s all fine and good, but wouldn’t it be better if you could just pocket that money? I think I’ve found a way to make that happen using your own favorite credit card. The trick: charge yourself $2000 in order to get rewards points, airline miles, or whatever. Most programs are typically giving you back at least 1% of the dollars spent, so that’s like $20 for free!
So here’s the plan:
- Sign up for a new account by clicking through this link Yes, this is my referral link so I can get the same promotional deal.
- Get your free card reader
- Link a bank account to your Square account. Explore the site while you wait for your card reader to arrive. If you think you will use this for actual business, you can see how to create an online store, add inventory, etc.
- With card reader in hand, take your favorite credit card (that you don’t carry a balance on, pay off every month, and has the best rewards benefits per dollar spent) and sell yourself some ‘good karma’ or ‘foot massage’ for $2000.*,** These charges will appear on your credit card statement like any regular purchase and will benefit from the interest free ‘grace period’ that you typically have when you don’t carry a balance.
You will typically get the funds deposited into your bank account the following day. At that time you can decide whether you want to simply make a payment back to your credit card or try and do something else with this ‘fee-free’ cash advance.
Enjoy your extra 2,000 miles or 2,000 reward points and take that $2,000 to the track and bet on a sure thing (joking!)
Whatever you decide to do, don’t let that money cost you anything in interest! Pay off that card and don’t carry a balance. There are cheaper sources of money than not paying your credit card in full every month!
One more time, here’s the link to get the promotional offer from Square, which benefits me too:
https://squareup.com/i/BCFB779B
*Worried about some tax issues or something? You probably don’t need to worry as long as you process less than 200 transactions and stay under $20,000 per year. According to this page, Square only sends out a 1099-K if you exceed those limits.
**Get more bang for your buck if you happen to have a new credit card with a 0% interest for some special promotional period. You could then put that $2000 in a low risk investment and maybe earn another 1-2%. Just don’t forget to pay it off before the 0% offer period ends.