How To Set Up Online Payment

To set up online bill payments, you’ll need to create an online account with your bank or service provider and then set up your account for payments. Follow these guidelines to set up payments through your bank or service provider.

To make payments online through your bank, log into your bank’s website and

•go to the Bill Pay section. Click on the relevant link to add a new payee and then type in the name of the recipient company. You’ll need a copy of a bill issued to you by a service provider so that you can copy the address and your account number, along with any other essential information, from the bill.

Enter the desired payment amount and schedule and complete the setup sequence. Thereafter, each time you want to make a payment, simply enter the amount of the bill and schedule your payment.

To establish online bill payment with a service provider, you’ll often need to provide a voided check and an authorization form to grant the company in question permission to withdraw funds from your bank account. You’ll be asked to provide bank account information such as your account number and any routing numbers associated with the checking account, either in the authorization form or separately.

In some cases, you may be able to supply your debit card information instead of a checking account.

Automatic Payments Again, you will be asked to specify the payment amount and schedule before you complete the bill pay setup. A typical payment date is the bill due date for the company, or one/two days before - but you should confirm that your payment will be credited as on time. Once things are up and running, payment will go directly from your bank account to your service provider.

By automating one-time payments, you can authorize your service providers to pull money from your account for irregular, one-off expenditures without any activity on your part. For example, you can have your bank automatically make payments on a seldom-used credit card whenever the card accrues a non-zero balance.

If you automate recurring payments, your online bill payment service can pay your monthly phone bill or your quarterly insurance payment. Automating online bill payment for regular expenses is a great way to pay on time and avoid incurring late fees.

In both cases, the service provider directly asks the online bill-paying company for payment as needed, and the payment is made without your involvement. If you authorize these types of payments, keep enough available funds in your account to cover them. Online bill pay can save time, reduce paperwork, and make life easier, but it can also lead to a negative account balance and associated fees if you set up withdrawals that exceed your balance. Shrewdly budgeting and paying attention to your balance can help you make the most of this convenient banking feature.