Ever wished you could pay the rent, your energy bill or your business invoices by credit card? With Billhop, you can. But you’ll have to do the maths and figure out if it’s worth it.
Explain Billhop to me in 3 sentences
Billhop is a service that lets you pay pretty much any kind of bill or invoice using your credit card. In exchange for a fee, you can take advantage of your card’s interest free days and earn points and rewards on your spending. It’s meant for those times when credit cards aren’t accepted as a payment method, but you’d still like to use yours.
How does Billhop work?
Sign up. You’ll need to fill in a form with your personal details, which shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes. You won’t be credit checked.
Add your invoices/bills. You’ll need the recipient’s account number, the amount and the invoice reference number.
Pay with your credit card. You can also save your credit card details directly into Billhop, so you don’t have to add them every time. The payment will reach the recipient within four working days.
There’s a 2.95% fee on every transaction. This is the catch. For example, if you pay £100 through Billhop, you will be charged £102.95. You’ll have to consider whether the benefits of paying with your credit card outweigh the costs.
Set recurring payments for your regular bills. Or schedule your payments in advance. The great advantage of direct debits is that you don’t need to remember to pay every month. Recurring payments on Billhop serve the same purpose, even though they’re only helpful when your bill’s amount always stays the same.
Can I use Billhop with my business credit card? How does that work?
You 100% can. As a business, you’re actually more likely to be able to make the most of Billhop. Many suppliers don’t take credit cards, which can be a serious problem if you want to use yours to improve your cash flow or earn more rewards.
Depending on your credit card’s terms, using it can give you up to 56 days interest free, which makes it a very convenient way of borrowing for the short term. Some suppliers might also offer you a discount if you pay early.
If you decide to use Billhop for your business, things work pretty much the same way. You’ll need to sign up to Billhop as a business using your company details. You’ll then be able to use your business credit card to pay your invoices. The fee is also the same as for personal payments – 2.95% of the transaction’s amount.
Should I use Billhop?
As we said, you’ll need to calculate whether using Billhop is worth the fee. Much will depend on the benefits your credit card offers. Start by considering the following factors:
Points. If your credit card earns points, cashback or air miles, using Billhop can allow you to earn them more quickly. However, Billhop’s fee makes it an expensive way of buying points. Even top credit cards don’t usually offer more than 1% (or very occasionally 2%) back, so it won’t normally be worth using Billhop just to earn more points. However, things could be different if you’re trying to reach the minimum spend you need to get a point bonus. Some Amex cards, for example, tie their juicy introductory bonuses to a certain minimum spent in the first three months.
Credit. If points by themselves will hardly make Billhop worth it, coupled with the ability to spread the cost of an expense, they can make using Billhop a solid idea. Using your credit card gives you extra time to pay without charging interest (as long as you pay it back before the interest free days are over). This is especially true if your credit card offers a 0% deal on purchases.
What else could you use your credit card for? If you feel like you’re not taking full advantage of your credit card, try thinking about what you could use it for without Billhop first. There are plenty of places that will accept it for free. For example, could you use it more often to pay for your grocery shopping? Also, some energy providers will actually take it, and most councils will accept it as a payment method for council tax.
Credit limit. The ability to use your credit card for pretty much any kind of expense may encourage people to overspend. Try not to come too close to your credit limit (it can impact your credit score) and avoid going beyond it at all costs.
Pros and cons of Billhop
Pros
It allows you to pay by credit card even when it isn’t an accepted payment method.
Quick and easy to sign up to and use.
If you have a rewards credit card, you can earn points, cashback or air miles more quickly.
It buys you extra time to pay an expense back, especially if you have a 0% deal.
Cons
Using Billhop comes with a 2.95% fee.
Direct debits can be more practical, especially if your bill’s amount changes every month.
Billhop customer reviews
Billhop has received positive reviews overall from customers, according to review platforms like Trustpilot. It currently has a “great” Trustpilot rating, with a score of 3.9 out of 5, based on more than 180 reviews (updated October 2023). Many customers suggested Billhop had good customer service and was easy to use.
Customer support information
If you have any queries or need support, you can contact Billhop using the online contact form on its website. Alternatively, you can drop its customer support team an email at help@billhop.com.
Our verdict
Using Billhop can earn you credit card points faster and buy you more time to pay back an expense, but it comes at a cost. Check if there’s any other expense you could put on your credit card for free first.
Frequently asked questions
For credit card payments, Billhop uses the same security procedures as most e-commerce sites. Traffic is encrypted, and the first time you use a credit card, you’ll usually be asked to enter your password or insert a code sent to your phone (this depends on which network your credit card is on).
After the first time, you can decide to save your credit card details in Billhop. If you do, make sure you protect your Billhop account with a strong password.
Yes, you can. HMRC stopped accepting personal credit cards as a payment method in 2018, but you can still use Billhop to pay your Self Assessment tax bill or any other kind of HMRC bill.
No, it won’t. Your credit card provider has already taken care of that. Billhop is just a payment portal. You won’t be borrowing money from it in any way, so it doesn’t need to check your credit history.
Most of the bills you can think of, really, but there are a few exceptions. For obvious reasons, you can’t pay another credit card’s bill or a debt collector. You can’t use Billhop to pay cryptocurrency companies, currency exchange companies or gambling companies. You also can’t use Billhop to transfer money between your own accounts or to another private individual. Finally, there are additional restrictions if your credit card is an Amex – you can read about them on this page.
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Chris Lilly is Head of publishing at finder.com. He's a specialist in personal finance, from day-to-day banking to investing to borrowing, and is passionate about helping UK consumers make informed decisions about their money. In his spare time Chris likes forcing his kids to exercise more. See full bio
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