Turn Canon AMEX Rebate into cash $$

trollins wrote in post #17482989
What is the process on that, starlights?

No big process - Just activate the card (by calling the # on the back of the card) then present it to the Cashier at your bank and tell them you would like to deposit the card in your account (I believe you can only deposit it in an account you hold, and not get cash for it) - they take it, ask you to swipe your debit card to access your account and deposit the card - then they give you a receipt and hand you the used up card back - thats what i did for the two T Mobile prepaid cards i received.....

I may try depositing my Canon Card in my bank today - will update here if all goes well.

Thanks for the info. I will try it this afternoon also.

Amex is still doing refunds on their rewards cards.

I called in last week and had 3 $150 canon rebate cards refunded to my bank account. Takes approx 15 days according to the phone rep, but there was no hassle and it took less than 15 mins on the phone with them.

I tried to deposit the Card/s at my bank but the teller was unable debit the cards. After some troubleshooting, the teller informed me that they can bank deposit almost every other (MC / Visa / Discover) Prepaid Gift cards, except Amex - unfortunately the Canon sent us the Amex cards - so its a no-go for bank deposit

There are two other ways that come to mind, however both of them end up with a bit of penalty. One was has already been mentioned in this thread - to use PP and bill yourself - but that will only work for those who have the ability to swipe / bill themselves and have PP account.

The second way could be, that one could buy a MC/Visa GC using this Amex card - usually there is a fee involved (Unless you go to a store that is running a free promotion at that time) and then deposit the New MC/Visa into your bank account.

I think in the end... IF you have paypal, just send it to yourself. Big deal, 3%. Just eat a $5 subway sandwich one time... For me, waiting for canon to process and send the card is enough time. Another 15 days is just overkill..I'm the type of person who wants things done sooner. I will consider the 3% fee as an expedited charge. No phone calls, no bank runs, just a simple transaction on my iPad/iPhone. No card swiped is needed. Just a paypal account and you sign up for PayPalhere for free as long as you have been a member for a good amount of time, which I'm sure most people have now a days...considering online shopping is done quite frequently especially if you're on this site reading this.. Just a simple idea for people that don't want to hold more plastic cards in their wallet and worry about using the whole thing before they charge you..

I just went to the grocery store and bought ~$200 worth of food I would have normally spent cash on anyway, then off to the gas station and filled up the car on the remaining $50. Then I took $250 cash out of the bank for me. No 3% fee and instant cash.

baj2k wrote in post #17484824
I just went to the grocery store and bought ~$200 worth of food I would have normally spent cash on anyway, then off to the gas station and filled up the car on the remaining $50. Then I took $250 cash out of the bank for me. No 3% fee and instant cash.

^ This. I can't believe the folks around here would have trouble burning up a few hundred in Amex gift cards. It isn't like we are a community of non-spenders. Not sure of the motivation to turn plastic in to cash. I guess you do lose the opportunity to charge those groceries, or whatever, and gain some cash back or points on your credit card, but at some point trying to get a good deal becomes obsessive in a bad way (I think).

mpix345 wrote in post #17488365
^ This. I can't believe the folks around here would have trouble burning up a few hundred in Amex gift cards. It isn't like we are a community of non-spenders. Not sure of the motivation to turn plastic in to cash. I guess you do lose the opportunity to charge those groceries, or whatever, and gain some cash back or points on your credit card, but at some point trying to get a good deal becomes obsessive in a bad way (I think).

Maybe people want to spend the exact amount and that's hard to do at the store / gas station. But yeah, nothing wrong with doing that, or even buying a gift card to the grocery store you frequent.

DiMAn0684 wrote in post #17488516
Maybe people want to spend the exact amount and that's hard to do at the store / gas station. But yeah, nothing wrong with doing that, or even buying a gift card to the grocery store you frequent.

I always go for the check because 2% cashback on my main card is better than 0% on a prepaid card. So far on the $1050 of cards I've gotten a check on, that's $21 extra cashback that I wouldn't have gotten by spending on the prepaid card. Waste not want not.

I usually wait until I need something from Amazon and just buy an Amazon Gift Certificate with it. Just now I bought a $100 gift cert to use for a wireless HDMI connector to connect my laptop to a TV. The gift cert arrives 5 minutes after I buy it, so no waiting. I'd imagine you could do the same with any vendor that uses gift certs and accepts Amex.