Online Bill Payment Plans

Online Bill PayMost people don’t enjoy paying bills, but the process is even worse if you must fill out every check, form and envelope by hand. You’ve got to buy stamps, which continue to get more and more expensive. Then you’ve got to either drive by the post office to mail your bills or trust that nothing will be stolen from your home mailbox. Depending on how many bills you have, it can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, or longer, to pay all of your bills by hand. Then you still have to wait for those bills to be posted to your bank account.

Why bother with that hassle when you can participate in an online bill payment plan? Online bill pay is a service of online banking that lets users pay bills directly from their bank accounts. Unlike sending bills via the postal service, bill pay through online banking is instantaneous. Your bills will be paid on time each and every month. Once you’ve set up your online billing payment plans, there’s nothing else you need to do.

Arrange online billing

The first step is to make sure your bank or financial institution offers online billing. All of the major banks do, and many mid-sized banks offer online billing as well. Enroll in online banking through your bank and then visit the online billing portion of the bank’s Web site. You’ll be asked for information about each of the businesses and utility companies that you owe monthly payments to. You’ll be asked to set the dates for when withdraws are made for your various bills, and you’ll also be asked to specify which accounts you’d like to pay money from. This is a huge asset for people who have more than one bank account.

Once you’ve entered all the required information, the bank takes care of the rest. Bill payments are made on the days you specified from the accounts that you designated. You can log into your online banking account to confirm that payments have been processed. Most businesses and utility companies also have Web sites where you can pay bills online and check the status of your accounts, and these sites are great tools for double-checking the performance of your online banking – which you only need to do for the first month of service.

Online bill payment statements

Online bill pay is fast and easy, but you still want to keep a record of statements just as you would if you paid bills normally. When participating in online banking, you will continue to receive paper statements from your financial institution on a weekly or monthly basis. These statements will record all of the transactions made through your online bill payment plan. At your request, many banks and financial institutions can stop sending you paper statements and instead send your statements via e-mail. A growing number of people are choosing this option because it’s better for the environment and statements arrive on a more regular basis.

Online banking and budgeting

Remember to keep a budget after enrolling in online banking and bill pay services. Some people find spending money to be easier when all of their monthly expenditures are out of sight and out of mind. Fortunately, the tools provided by online banking services make it easy for you to check your available balances, pending withdraws and incoming funds. For added financial security, many banks offer special credit cards that can be attached to your online banking accounts. If you overdraw your bank account, then the balance is simply added to your credit card, sparing you from needing to pay large overdraft fees.

 

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Benefits of Online Banking

  • Higher interest rates: Online banks that exist only online don’t have to shoulder the costs of traditional style banks. These banks tend to offer higher interest rates to attract new customers.

  • Online billing: Do you get bogged down by paying bills? Online banking lets you automatically pay your bills online. That way, you don’t have to worry about it.

  • Unlimited access: Thanks to online banking, you can access your bank accounts no matter where you are, whether you’re on vacation or a business trip.

  • Incentive payments: Many new online banks offer cash incentives to get new customers to join. You can make money by registering with an online bank or by referring a friend.

  • Fewer fees: Online banks require fewer extra fees than traditional brick-and-mortar banks, mostly because online banks aren’t faced with the same overhead infrastructure costs.

  • Security: Online banks feature state-of-the-art online security to protect your investments at all times.

  • Paperless transactions: No more filling out deposit slips or putting checks in the mail. Online banking allows you to manage your finances electronically, which is more convenient and better for the environment.