Google Wallet Send Money: New Way to Help Meet Minimum Spend?

Update: For Google Wallet, it's no longer free to send money using a credit card: 

“To send money using a credit or debit card, there will be a flat fee of 2.9% per transaction (minimum $0.30).” 

I recommend sticking with Amazon Payments to help meet minimum spend.

—————————- Original Post —————————————————–

The good news: Google Wallet has added the ability to send money, and for a limited time there's no fee to use your credit card is free (just as with Amazon Payments). 

The bad news: It's invite only, so only if you're sent money by someone with the new version of Google Wallet will you have the ability to send money. 

Google Wallet: So What?

It's already possible to send money using your credit card for free on Amazon Payments, so if anything Google Wallet is playing catchup. The issue is that using the free personal version of Amazon Payments, you're limited to $1000 per month. Anything that helps you send more than that could be great for helping meet minimum spend for credit card bonuses.

What's the Maximum Limit You Can Send per Month Using Google Wallet?

Per Google Wallet, there's a daily send money limit of $10,000 (in practice, $9999) and a $50,000 limit per 5 day period. “This includes both money sent to others as well as money transferred in and out of your Google Wallet Balance. You may send as many transactions up to the limits. These limits may be subject to change.” That said, see below “Caveats or Downsides”

So How Do I Get the Ability to Send Money Using Google Wallet?

You'll need to find someone who already has the new version of Google Wallet and can send you money (1 cent is fine). After you're sent money, you'll also have the new version of Google Wallet and will be able to send money. Per Google Wallet, fter being sent money, you need to wait ~30 minutes then refresh Gmail to see the $ icon indicating the ability to send money. Note that you'll need to be using the new Gmail compose to be able to send money with Gmail. Or just send money directly from Google Wallet.

Can I Only Send Money To Someone with Gmail?

No–you can send money to anyone in the U.S. who has an email account. The recepient will need to sign up for Google Wallet to claim the sent money.

How Long Does It Take for the Recipient to Receive the Money?

While Google Wallet says that if you're sending from your Google Wallet Balance, credit or debit card, “the recipient will receive funds almost instantaneously in most cases” folks on FlyerTalk report delays of one or more days with larger amounts, such as $1000 or more.

Which Credit Cards Can Be Used with Google Wallet?

Per Google Wallet, these credit cards can be used: 

• American Express*
• Discover*
• JCB (JPY and USD only)
• MasterCard
• Visa
• Visa Electron**

^*  Accepted only in the United States
^** Accepted outside of the United States

How Long Will Google Wallet Waive the Credit Card Fee?

It's not specified how long Google Wallet will waive the credit card fee. The regular fee once Google Wallet no longer waives it will be a flat fee of 2.9% per transaction. Obviously at that amount, it doesn't make sense for meeting minimum spend. Instead, check out Top Tips for Meeting Minimum Spend.

When Using a Credit Card to Send Money via Google Wallet, Is This Treated as a Cash Advance?

No: using a credit card is not treated as a cash advance by Chase, AMEX or Citi. 

Any Caveats or Downsides?

Someone on FlyerTalk has already reported receiving the following email:

“Hello, 

We recently noticed that you're adding then withdrawing lots of funds from your Google Wallet Balance or sending/receiving money in a way that may violate our Terms of Service. 

We wanted to offer a friendly reminder that the peer to peer service is intended for Google Wallet customers to send money to other persons, and not to rack up airline miles/rewards points or get cash advances. We view such transactions as misconduct under section 7 of the Google Wallet Terms of Services, and may decline to process such transactions or close your account if we identify in the future that you are using your account for these purposes.”

So as always, use common sense and don't be too greedy when using this or other services that in essence allow you to manufacture spend to receive bonuses. 

Here's the Google Wallet YouTube video on how send money works: