How can you pay rent with American Express?

You can pay rent with an American Express card if you use a third-party service, though it may be costly. Most landlords and rental management companies won’t accept American Express credit cards as a direct form of payment, and third-party rent payment apps charge fees ranging from 2% to 4% for credit card payments. That’s in addition to possible cash advance fees and interest charges, depending on which third-party service you use. These charges could negate any rewards you earn.

It’s also important to note that rental payment apps such as PlacePay, Rent Payment, Rentmoola, and ClickPay require landlords to have an account to receive rental payments. If your landlord doesn’t already participate, it might be a tough sell. The same is true for general payment apps such as CashApp, PayPal and Venmo, but landlords are more likely to have them already. Plus, these general payment apps treat Amex transactions as purchases, not cash advances.

Using a Cash Advance to Pay Rent with American Express

Amex may allow you to pay rent and other expenses with a convenience check, which works like a traditional check, except that the amount of the check is applied against the card’s credit limit and not withdrawn from a checking account. However, Amex treats such transactions as a cash advance, which means interest starts accumulating at a high rate on the date of the transaction. Plus, there’s a 5% (min $10) fee on each transaction.

If paying rent with an Amex card is not an option, you can always use a credit card on another network. Some rental payment apps will charge you less in fees if you use a Visa or Mastercard credit card. To learn more, refer to WalletHub’s guide on how to pay rent with a credit card.