Assume a Bank of America's Rewards World Mastercard Card is configured so that it has a 3% cash back in the travel category. Does paying for some travel-related service such as Airbnb via installment payment such as Klarna (example) count in the travel category?
asked Feb 20 at 13:43
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2Ask the bank and/or read your user agreement. Rules vary from card to card and sometimes from account to account, and often it depends on exactly what category that individual vendor is registered as. Or try it and find out, which is how I've usually resolved things when I wasn't sure; the worst that happens I'd you don't get the 3% back.– keshlamCommented Feb 20 at 15:24
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2 Answers
This all boils down to how the transaction is reported to the bank. They don't really care what you bought or where, what they care is how much they charged the merchant for the transaction, and that depends on the specific merchant category code (MCC) used for that transaction.
No-one can know what MCC code is going to be used but the merchant. In this case, Klarma. You can click on the "More info" link and see what it says, or call Klarma directly and ask them. It's up to them whether they're "forwarding" the original MCC code of the merchant or using their own.
Worth noting that it may be handled differently for different merchants, different transactions, and different card issuers. It may be that someone got it categorized as "Travel" and you wouldn't, or the other way around. Unfortunately, by using these services you lose some level of control and some potential for benefits and protection.
I went ahead and I tried: payments to Klarna were not counted toward the travel bonus category.
answered Mar 2 at 19:06