Let me know if this is the wrong place for this. I'm interested in MS to achieve a high transaction count, rather than a high transaction amount.
If I understand correctly, Amazon allows you to automatically reload your gift card balance on a preset schedule. Are there other sites like this?
Why do I want a high transaction count? Well, I would like to get one of those high-interest checking accounts requiring a minimum count of debit transactions, but I don't think I can meet the transaction requirements organically. (One option is to use my friends and family to help, but I'd rather not.) I would like to try to put together a few automated monthly or weekly transactions with different sites to make it more organic.
Some possibilities I think I've found:
- Charities work well, but I don't think they are enough by themselves and I'm not crazy about the payment processor taking a bigger bite due to transaction size.
- I think a number of gas stations and coffee shops have reloadable cards that reload when your balance gets low enough. This includes Shell, Dunkin', Starbucks. Not ideal for me and still not fully automated, but potentially useful. For some of those, I'm not sure whether they start to count as financial services or something that wouldn't qualify as a purchase anymore (or would trigger suspicion anyway).
FYI - You can get similar high interest rates in a money market account with a bank or brokerage, which might also satisfy your needs.
(With a bank they are usually FDIC insured, with a brokerage they are often not, but they are investing in short-term very-low-risk debt instruments).
I think the only constraint/limitation with a Money market account is some companies limit the number of transactions (e.g. only allow 6 withdrawals per month or so).
