PSA: Don't pay for Skip the Dishes with Simplii Visa

[gelacy]

I use Simplii Visa (4% cashback on restaurants and takeout, 1.5% on gas groceries and drugstores, and 0.5% everything else) to pay for restaurants and takeout only. This past month I tried Skip the Dishes and Uber Eats for the first time, and now that my bill has come in, it shows Skip the Dishes as Retail and Grocery, and earns 0.5% instead of 4%.

Just wanted to let people know. Use other cards to pay for Skip the Dishes to get better rewards/cashback. I tried to find some answers, called Simplii, and couldn't find an answer anywhere, so here it is.

ANOTHER EDIT: As per here, maybe paying skip the dishes through google pay can get it classified as restaurant. No opinion on Skip either way, use it or not as you want, I'm just trying to get the information out there.

EDIT: I'm not blaming Simplii, it's not their fault, according to this Skip the Dishes is registered under Groceries and Retail for Visa (Simplii), under Taxi&public transit for Mastercard (Tangerine), and restaurants for Amex.

Also, a lot of people are telling me Skip is far too expensive, etc etc etc, and I agree, the premium isn't worth it. However, I don't have a car, and if a restaurant doesn't have a delivery service, and I can't sit in that restaurant because of the pandemic, what am I supposed to do? Take an hour to bus there, get the food, and hour to come back, then eat? Pay for Uber to carry me there so I can pick up my order and the Uber myself back home?

It's not for everyone, but in my case paying a premium for Uber Eats/Skip the dishes a few times a month (less than 4), and using the bus/Uber/kangaride occasionally is far less expensive than buying, maintaining, and insuring a car. Just wanted to inform people.

 

[perseveringwife0224]

@gelacy From my experience (could be wrong) it's not the card necessarily it's how the company is listed under the transaction Walmart being the big example even if most people buy their groceries there it's considered a department store or something and doesn't give the same level cash back. And if the company is listed like that I imagine it is the same across all banks (again could be wrong).

 

[shekinah1978]

@perseveringwife0224 It's same across the same card type (VISA, MasterCard, Amex)

 

[shirely]

@shekinah1978 Walmart Supercentres *should* qualify as grocery spend on Mastercard, excluding the CTFS MC.

 

[piper1290]

@shirely Tangerine MC does report them as grocery, at least the one I've went to a few times.

 

[thisfeller]

@piper1290 Ours does as well, but it doesn't count it as groceries if you order online and pick it up in store. Our cashback rewards payout has dropped in half since we started doing pickup during the pandemic. I guess we did a lot of shopping at Walmart.

 

[saved777]

@piper1290 Is that card any good?

 

[jkjnz63]

@shirely My visa doesn't classify them as such.

 

[thisfeller]

@perseveringwife0224 We have a Walmart Supercenter we shop at and anything we buy there counts as groceries according to my credit card. Lately we have been ordering our groceries online and picking them up and none of those orders show up as groceries.

Now at superstore, both online and in-store counts as groceries.

Now I'm sure there is a logic to all of this, but I haven't ever been able to predict it.

 

[iowa52241]

@perseveringwife0224

From my experience (could be wrong) it's not the card necessarily it's how the company is listed under the transaction Walmart being the big example even if most people buy their groceries there it's considered a department store or something and doesn't give the same level cash back. And if the company is listed like that I imagine it is the same across all banks (again could be wrong).

The "category" for rewards purposes is dependent on how the card issuer (bank) categories the MCC of a merchant. The MCC is determined by the merchant acquirer (the guy between the merchant and the payment network) based on what the merchant's principle business is. Things can get lost in the shuffle, especially because MCCs for ecommerce businesses can be weird.

As an example, imagine the fictional MCCs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 all correspond to the category "resale of goods in a physical store". 1 may fall under the subcategory of "everyday goods", 2 may be defined under the subcategory of "wholesale", 3 may be "department store", etc. A merchant acquirer, when setting up the Walmart's POS systems, may put them under category 3 (for a store less rigidly managed, with different merchant acquirers in various locations, it's possible to have slightly different MCCs by location). Simplii may consider category 3 under its groceries category (a list of MCCs it considers grocery) whereas Tangerine may not. Inverse is also true.

 

[gelacy]

@perseveringwife0224 Completely agree, not blaming Simplii, just wanted to point that out. Apparently Skip is registered as "groceries and retail" for Visa (Simplii) "Taxi & public transportation" with Mastercard (Tangerine), and classed as "restaurant" for Amex, as per here

Per Walmart, they're classified differently if they sell groceries there or not. If they do, it's grocery-level rewards even if you're just buying a TV and clothes. If that specific Walmart doesn't sell groceries, then it's a department store.

 

[saved777]

@perseveringwife0224 Walmart is listed as Grocery on my Capital One MC. Thats where i shop for them lol

 

[theoden]

@gelacy That's not Simplii though, that's Skip the Dishes. Simplii doesn't control what category the transactions is filed under.

Your point is valid, just don't blame Simplii. If it is classed as Grocery, then you just pick a grocery reward based card.

 

[gelacy]

@theoden Oh for sure, I agree with you, it's not Simplii's fault, I was just pointing out that you shouldn't pay Skip the dishes using Simplii's visa, use another card that will get you better than 0.5% rewards, is all.

 

[jimmy22x]

@gelacy It’s also classified as “Merchandise - Other” on Amex

https://imgur.com/2cdWesC

 

[gelacy]

@jimmy22x Someone said they still got the 5X rewards on their Amex Cobalt. I have no idea, I don't use Amex anyways, but it's still interesting.

 

[doulosiesou]

@gelacy Yep. It's a bit weird, but merchant code is highly dependent on the store or retailer.

Using Amex Cobalt as an example, Mcdonalds is classified as Other-Entertainment, which makes absolutely zero sense. But it will still recognize Mcdonalds as a restaurant, and will award the 5x points. Skipthedishes is recognized as Merchandise - Other, but Ubereats is considered Restaurants.

Funny thing is that there were promo emails encouraging cobalt cardholders to use Skip and Ubereats for the 5x points, and the most recent one being the $5 credit for $10 spending. It's like they can override merchant code designations if they feel like it, but won't reimburse you for missing points if you call about it.

Some people have reported Walmart as a grocery merchant code, while some have reported general merchandise, therefore affecting the cash-back/point multiplier. \

 

[gelacy]

@doulosiesou It depends if it's a Walmart superstore selling groceries or not. If it doesn't sell groceries, it's a department store. If it does sell groceries, then it counts as groceries even if you're buying a TV.

That's what I heard from the Mastercard angle, no idea about Visa or Amex.

 

[jamminontha1]

@jimmy22x Interesting, shows as "Retail" for me but still only 1x points. Never realized that before.

 

[johake]

@gelacy Same thing for Tangerine. It comes up at 0.5% for me instead of the 2% I get on other restaurants/groceries.