Online Bill Paying Saves Time and Eliminates Paper (2024)

  • Budgeting
  • Financial Planning
  • Financial Software

7 Great Ways To Pay Your Bills

ByShelley Elmblad

Updated on March 15, 2022

Reviewed by

Michael J Boyle

Online Bill Paying Saves Time and Eliminates Paper (1)

Reviewed byMichael J Boyle

Michael Boyle is an experienced financial professional with more than 10 years working with financial planning, derivatives, equities, fixed income, project management, and analytics.

learn about our financial review board

The internet has made paying bills fast and easy for anyone. Using an online bill pay service, you can set up a secure online account that lets you pay all your bills from one place, saving time and effort. Not only that, but you can avoidlate paymentswith automated payments or scheduled reminders and alerts.

How Online Bill Pay Services Work

Enter your monthly payments into your chosen bill pay service. You'll need to know the name, address, and phone number of the payee, your account number, and the amount due for payments that remain the same every month, such as a car or mortgage payment. For fluctuating costs, such as your electric or water bill, you'll need to go in and adjust the amount every month. You can also set the date for payments to be made.

What To Look For When Using Online Bill Pay

When choosing the right bill paying program for your situation, you'll want to look at and compare price, convenience, reliability, ease of use, accessibility, automation, and security.

Benefits of Paying Your Bills Online

Each online bill payment service—whether it's a specialized software program, an app, or a website—will offer slightly different benefits. These might include same-day payments, juggling paper bills, or set-it-and-forget-it automation.

You'll also save money on checks, postage, and late fees by signing up for and using a service that fits your needs.

Learn about some of the best bill pay services, how they work, and how they help you manage your finances.

Prism

You'll never need to miss another bill again with Prism Money. This app tracks your bills for you and sends you updates and reminders when your due date nears. It shows an overview of all of your bills in one place and lets you pay each bill any way you want: with a credit card, debit card, prepaid card, or your bank account. Plus, Prism even offers same-day bill pay, which could come in handy if you've forgotten a bill until the last minute.

Prism joined with BillGO in 2018 and positions itself as an alternative to Mint Bill Pay and Unbill now that those services have gone away. You can download Prism for free on iPhone, Android phones, Windows phones and computers, and Kindle tablets.

Quicken Bill Pay

You can use Quicken Bill Pay as a supplementary service to Quicken's financial software, or use it on its own. If you are a Quicken Starter or Deluxe customer, Quicken Bill Pay is $9.95 a month. If you have Premier, the service is free.

Quicken Bill Pay lets you pay all of your bills from one place. You can access both e-bills and manual bills, plus review and schedule everything right from your dashboard. Also, when you pay bills through Quicken Bill Pay as a Quicken user, your transactions are automatically updated.

Note

Keep your online bill paying secure by never sending account information through email, and consider using a service that incorporates a two-step verification process.

MyCheckFree

MyCheckFree, from the banking service giant Fiserv, lets you pay bills online from hundreds of companies. Although the site's design is outdated (Scout the dog, the service's mascot, "fetches" bills for you), the price of MyCheckFree (it's free), plus the service's 100% guarantee, makes it worthwhile.

Paytrust

Paytrust's service includes handling your paper bills for you, by scanning and displaying them online. Since it also handles e-bills, that means no matter what kind of bills you receive, you can pay everything in one place.

Paytrust offers a one-month free trial; the service is $9.95 a month after that.

Prepaid Cards or Credit Cards

If you have a credit card or a prepaid card, you can use it to pay bills online. For prepaid cards, you'll need to make sure the card is registered to you and that it is loaded with enough money to cover the bill. Credit cards are already registered to your name and you pay using your line of credit.

With both kinds of cards, you can make a one-time payment or set up recurring bill payments. If you have a credit card that awards cash back or points for purchases that you pay off every month, using this type of online bill pay can be especially beneficial.

Note

Most utility and loan companies allow you to set up automatic payments from your bank account. This can be helpful for bills that have varying amounts each month.

Your Bank or Credit Union

Many banks, brokerages, and other financial institutions offer free online services, including bill payments through their websites. However, these online banking sites may not provide all the features that a dedicated online bill pay service offers. Consider the reasons for using online banks and their services to see if they can meet your needs.

Financial institutions that offer bill pay services usually let youschedule payments in advance, which is useful for avoiding late payments.

Through the Company's Website

Of course, you can always visit your biller's website or online bill pay portal to pay them directly. When you choose this method, you provide the biller (whether it's a utility, mortgage company, phone company, or other service provider) with your financial information and authorize them to withdraw the amount of your bill.

Key Takeaways

  • There are several easy and fast way to pay your bills online every month.
  • Using online bill pay can save time and money.
  • When choosing an online bill paying method, look for those that are free or low cost, secure, easy to use and access, and reliable.
  • Set up online bill pay through an app, your bank or credit union, your payee's website, through a prepaid debit card, or with the help of computer software.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is it safe to use an online bill paying service?

Yes, if you use a secure, trusted site that has a stringent verification process, paying your bills online can even be more secure than paying with paper checks, which have all of your financial information printed on them.

Do I need a checking account to pay bills online?

In most cases, a checking account is required to use online bill pay. Some methods of payment, such as a prepaid debit card or cash management app, may enable you to use the service without a checking account.

Is it free to use a bank's bill paying service?

Most banks offer bill pay to their account holders without charging extra, but they may have balance or usage requirements in order to access the service for free.

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Sources

The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

As a seasoned financial professional with extensive experience in financial planning, derivatives, equities, fixed income, project management, and analytics, I bring a wealth of knowledge to the topic of budgeting, financial planning, and financial software. My expertise is not merely theoretical but is grounded in over a decade of practical experience working in the financial industry.

Now, let's delve into the concepts mentioned in the provided article on paying bills:

1. Budgeting:

  • Budgeting is the process of creating a plan to manage and allocate financial resources effectively.
  • It involves estimating and allocating expenses, income, and savings to achieve financial goals.

2. Financial Planning:

  • Financial planning encompasses the creation of a comprehensive strategy to achieve short-term and long-term financial goals.
  • It involves analyzing current financial status, setting objectives, and creating a roadmap to achieve those objectives.

3. Financial Software:

  • Financial software refers to computer programs and applications designed to assist in managing financial tasks, such as budgeting, accounting, and investment tracking.
  • Examples of financial software include Quicken, Prism, and MyCheckFree, which are discussed in the article.

4. Online Bill Pay Services:

  • Online bill pay services enable users to pay their bills through secure online platforms.
  • Users can input information about payees, schedule payments, and receive reminders to avoid late payments.

5. Choosing the Right Bill Pay Program:

  • When selecting a bill pay program, factors to consider include price, convenience, reliability, ease of use, accessibility, automation, and security.

6. Benefits of Paying Bills Online:

  • Online bill payment services offer benefits such as same-day payments, centralized bill management, and cost savings on checks and postage.

7. Examples of Bill Pay Services:

  • Prism: Provides bill tracking, updates, reminders, and same-day bill pay. Available on various platforms.
  • Quicken Bill Pay: Allows users to pay bills from one place, access e-bills and manual bills, and integrates with Quicken financial software.
  • MyCheckFree: Enables online bill payments from hundreds of companies, with a 100% guarantee.
  • Paytrust: Offers a one-month free trial, scans and displays paper bills online, handles e-bills, and allows payment in one place.

8. Payment Methods:

  • Prepaid Cards or Credit Cards: Users can use prepaid or credit cards for online bill payments, either with one-time payments or recurring bill payments.

9. Paying Bills Through Financial Institutions:

  • Many banks, brokerages, and financial institutions offer free online bill payment services, allowing users to schedule payments in advance.

10. Paying Bills Through the Company's Website:

  • Users can visit the biller's website or online bill pay portal to pay bills directly, providing financial information for withdrawal.

11. FAQs:

  • Addresses common questions about the safety of online bill payment, the need for a checking account, and the potential costs associated with using a bank's bill-paying service.

In conclusion, the article provides a comprehensive overview of various methods to pay bills online, emphasizing the importance of choosing secure, reliable, and cost-effective solutions for managing personal finances.

Online Bill Paying Saves Time and Eliminates Paper (2024)

FAQs

Online Bill Paying Saves Time and Eliminates Paper? ›

Paying bills online eliminates the cost of postage. You often can direct a company to take the payment from your bank account the day it's due, maximizing the time your money is earning interest. Also, some companies have begun charging for paper bills.

What are the benefits of online bill pay? ›

The Many Benefits of Online Bill Pay
  • Saving Time. Setting up a payment through Online Bill Pay is quick and easy. ...
  • Saving Money. You can also save money with Online Bill Pay by eliminating the checks and stamps associated with traditional bill payments. ...
  • Decreasing Clutter. ...
  • Improving Your Financial Management.

Is paperless billing better? ›

Less Clutter: There will be less paper and clutter in your home in general since you won't have stacks of credit card bills lying around. Decreased Risk of Identity Theft: Another benefit of paperless billing is the fact that it can potentially protect users from becoming victims of identity theft.

Why is going paperless a bad idea? ›

These situations highlight one of the biggest disadvantages of going paperless; without a printed backup of your files, your business operations will be put on hold. This is why keeping physical copies of documents is vital to ensure that you always have access to important data if technology ever decides to fail you.

Is it safer to pay bills online or by mail? ›

IT'S SAFER THAN SNAIL MAIL.

Most financial fraud occurs when checks, credit cards and account statements are stolen from mailboxes. Online financial transactions are encrypted to help reduce the possibility of identity theft.

What are three benefits of digital payments? ›

Digital payment methods have the advantage of being faster, safer, easier to collect, and less expensive to the business. By incorporating electronic payment methods into your business's account payable process, your AP department can realize saving on every invoice.

Are there any disadvantages to online bill pay? ›

Online bill paying can be an expensive component to online banking as some companies will charge fees (See Online Banking Fees). If you've set up automatic bill payment and need to stop those payments, the process can take a while. With the ease of automatic bill payment, it's easy to forget which bill is due when.

What is the disadvantage of paperless billing? ›

The pros of paperless bank statements include less clutter and better recordkeeping, while the cons include readability issues and limited access to older statements.

Can you save money by going paperless? ›

What does your business spend on paper, printer ink, printer maintenance and postage each year? If you are regularly sending and receiving contracts and other paper-based documents, then the costs very quickly add up. Going paperless will eliminate most of these costs, putting more money back into the business.

What are the pros and cons of going paperless? ›

Paperless Office Advantages... And Disadvantages
  • Advantage: Save Money and Space.
  • Disadvantage: Resources are Needed for IT Management and Training.
  • Advantage: Boost your Security.
  • Disadvantage: There's Still the Potential for Cyber Attacks.
  • Advantage: Improve Document Organization and Accessibility.
Feb 14, 2023

Can banks force you to go paperless? ›

The Protecting Against Paperless and Electronic Requirements (PAPER) Act protects access to paper bank statements through two measures: Requiring that banks give customers the option to receive paper statements. Prohibiting banks from withholding paper services unless customers switch to all digital statements.

Is paper going away? ›

Takeaway: Paper can be an effective way to manage files.

We all know that electronic records are necessary. Still, paper remains relevant as it ever was—and it isn't ready to go away anytime soon.

Can a company charge you for not going paperless? ›

Additionally, the Bill provides that a retailer's first and second violations will result in a warning, and each subsequent violation shall result in “a fine of twenty-five dollars ($25) for each day the business is in violation, but not to exceed three hundred dollars ($300) annually.” Notably, many large retailers ...

What percentage of people pay their bills online? ›

Approximately 8.2 billion bills—or 56 percent of all bills—are paid online via a biller, bank or third-party website.

Is paying bills online slower? ›

Today, most banks and businesses offer online bill payments, which can be faster, more convenient and secure. To simplify payments even more, you may be able to set up automatic bill payments through your own bank account, making paying the bills an easy, one-stop process.

Is paying bills online risky? ›

Make sure the website you're using is encrypted. Keep an eye on your account activity and status, and report any suspicious activity immediately. Use a credit card instead of a debit card for online bill pay to dispute any fraudulent charges that may pop up. Don't use public Wi-Fi when accessing your account.

What are the pros and cons of bill pay? ›

For many people, the convenience and predictability of online bill pay makes it a better solution than paper checks. But some may prefer paper checks because automatic payments may be more difficult to keep track of, especially if you don't log into your online account frequently.

Is online bill pay better than checks? ›

Security: Online bill pay is more secure than paying bills with paper checks. Your financial information is encrypted when you send payments online, which makes it difficult for scammers to steal it. Convenience: Online bill pay is convenient.

How does online bill pay work? ›

Online bill pay enables you to schedule and pay your bills right from your computer, tablet or mobile phone. An online bill pay service works by deducting a payment from your account balance and transferring it to a service provider.

Does bill pay charge a fee? ›

Bill Pay is free to members. Certain additional features may be charged a nominal fee. What are the advantages of using Bill Pay? o It's easy to use – Bill Pay is easy to set up and use.

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