How to Pay Bills Online
From LoveToKnow Online
You can save time, paper and stamps by learning how to pay bills online.
Pay Bills Online
To begin to pay bills online, you will need an e-mail address, copies of your latest bills or statements and your credit card and bank account information.
Sign Up
Visit the websites of all of the vendors to whom you make monthly payments. If you don’t already know the website address and can’t find it on the bill or card statement, a quick search for the name of the company should bring up its website.
You’re more likely to find opportunities to pay bills online when working with national companies such as major credit cards, satellite television services, and student loan providers. Don’t completely count out local businesses, though. The Michigan Secretary of State office renews license plates online while Florida Power and Light offers online payment options.
On each site, look for a registration or account access link. You will then create a username and password and input your basic personal information such as name and e-mail address. In addition to allowing you to pay your bills online, registering with these sites is useful for accessing your statements and otherwise keeping track of your financial information no matter where you are.
Pay Your Bill
Once you’ve created accounts at each website, you can then set up your online bill payments. This is where you will need your bills, statements and bank account information so that you can enter the appropriate account numbers. Credit cards require you to pay directly from your bank account, while other bills may offer the option of charging a payment to your credit card.
If you’re confused about a piece of information you’re supposed to submit, look for help menus or graphics. A picture of a check will highlight the difference between the bank account number and the routing number, or if a credit card company wants a code off the back of its card, a pop-up will show you exactly where that code is printed.
After you have entered your bank account or credit card information, you can choose a payment amount and then submit your payment.
Other Tips
Some companies offer the option of setting up a recurring monthly payment while others will require you to visit the site each month to pay your bill online. Know which option you’re signing up for, so you don’t miss any payments.
Since payments can take a few days to process, make sure you allow enough time before your bill is due. If your credit card bill is due on April 4, submitting your bank account information at 11:59 p.m. on April 3 won’t get the bill paid on time.
Most websites will take you to a final confirmation page where you can look over the details of your payment before committing to it. Make sure you click the final submit or confirm button after viewing this screen. You don’t want to miss a payment because you didn’t follow through on the entire online pay process.
Online Bill Pay Services
If you’re looking for the ultimate in convenience, there are also services available online that will take care of all your bills for a monthly fee. Is it worth it when you can just visit the individual websites yourself to pay your bills? You’ll have to balance out the cost with your personal needs and the number of bills you pay each month. If you can never keep track of payment due dates, you might save more in late fees than you spend on the service. It might also be worth it to you in terms of the extra night each month you’ll get to spend with your kids instead of tied to the computer.
Yahoo! Bill Pay, Paytrust and MyCheckFree.com are just a few of these online bill pay services. Do you research before committing to a service, and if something doesn’t seem right about a company, don’t work with them.
Be Safe
Any time you are transferring sensitive data such as account numbers and even passwords, make sure that you are using a secure website. Instead of starting with "http," a secure site’s URL will start with "https." Depending on your web browser, an icon that looks like a locked padlock may also appear to show that you’re on a secure website. Using a secure site when paying your bills online will help ensure that prying and potentially malicious eyes stay far away from your financial data.
Learn More
Comments
It's usually very simple to pay your bills online, puteri, as long as the company you have to pay offers you the option. You can often create an account in just a few minutes, with an email address and your banking information. Just make sure you only submit financial information to secure sites.
-- Contributed by: Lorie Witkopi want to no more on how to pay bill by online. is it to difficult to do?
-- Contributed by: puteri
This page has been accessed 3,001 times. This page was last modified 02:01, 7 April 2006.
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