Online Bill Paying Saves Time and Eliminates Paper (2024)

7 Great Ways To Pay Your Bills

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.

Online Bill Paying Saves Time and Eliminates Paper (2024)

FAQs

What are the advantages of using 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.

Which is an advantage of paying your bills using the online bill pay feature with your checking account? ›

Automatic bill pay saves time and effort by automating recurring payments. It helps avoid late fees by ensuring bills are paid on time. Using automatic bill pay can improve your credit score through consistent on-time payments. It enhances financial organization by consolidating payments into a single, automated ...

What are 3 things you need to do to use online bill pay? ›

Gather your bills, including account numbers and the addresses to where you mail the payments. Enter each biller's information into your bank's online bill pay platform, or choose them from a list provided by your bank. Choose when to send the payment.

Is paying bills online slower? ›

Paying a bill electronically is significantly faster than the traditional method. Online payments reach the payee in under two days, while a paper payment can take up to one business week to arrive. You'll never have to worry about whether your paper payment got mailed on time.

What are the advantages of online payment? ›

What are the advantages of electronic payments?
  • Impulse to buy. Customers can pay as soon as they feel the impulse to buy. ...
  • Security and credibility. ...
  • Cost of currency conversion. ...
  • Encouraged to upgrade purchases. ...
  • Money is available quicker. ...
  • The cost. ...
  • High level of consumer protection. ...
  • Entities that operate cards.

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.

Is online bill pay better than writing checks? ›

Better security.

With no physical check to steal or forge, electronic payments aren't susceptible to mail theft or mail fraud. Digital checks can't be physically stolen or altered, and there's no need to provide your checking account number to the people or companies you pay.

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

It's generally safer to use your bank's online bill pay because you have more control over the payment process. You set the amount and date of payment rather than allowing the service provider to take the money from your bank account on their terms.

Is online bill pay much easier and cheaper than writing checks to pay your bills? ›

Explanation: The statement that online bill pay is much easier and cheaper than writing checks to pay your bills is true. Online bill pay offers convenience and cost savings by eliminating the need for paper checks, envelopes, and stamps.

How safe is online payment? ›

When transferring funds online, you need to think carefully about the potential for cybercriminals to access sensitive account data. Digital payments carry an unfortunate risk of fraud. So choosing safe online payment methods is vital to protect funds and keep revenue flowing.

Why might someone choose to use online payments? ›

Another reason why consumers like to pay bills online is that the practice helps them reduce their carbon footprint and annoying paperwork. There are no paper receipts and invoices to store and manage, and no envelopes and stamps to buy. No longer do bills clutter the workplace, home office, or family's kitchen table.

What is the online bill payment? ›

Online bill pay is a digital service that allows businesses to offer customers the option to pay their bill online. Customers can make payments directly from their bank account, credit card, or other payment method to the business using online bill pay.

What is an advantage of online bill pay? ›

Online bill pay services offer a convenient, safe and inexpensive way to ensure that your bills are paid on time by setting up an account to make one-time or recurring payments. If you have bills from several different sources—and most people do—online bill pay is worth the time and effort to set up.

Is it good to pay your bills online? ›

Online bill pay is included with an online bank account, and online bank accounts are generally very safe. Banking sites protect your accounts in a number of ways, including multifactor authentication, alerts for suspicious activity and website encryption.

Is it better to pay bills online or in the mail? ›

While online bill payment is convenient and eliminates the risk of your mail being stolen, lost, or delayed, it's still important to protect sensitive financial information against unauthorized access and fraudulent activities.

What benefits does using the internet to pay bills have? ›

Convenience. You can log in to your bill pay account any time day or night and set up bill payments. Accessing your bill pay is possible wherever internet access is available, so if you are on a business trip or on vacation you can log on and make sure your bills are set to go out. Save Time.

What are the benefits of electronic bill payment? ›

Paying online also helps protect your privacy and identity by eliminating any risk associated with lost or stolen paperwork. You'll no longer have to pay for cheques, stamps or envelopes. You can save on the fuel costs too. By eliminating paper bills and cheques, you can reduce your impact on the environment as well.

Why would a consumer choose to use online bill pay? ›

Another reason why consumers like to pay bills online is that the practice helps them reduce their carbon footprint and annoying paperwork. There are no paper receipts and invoices to store and manage, and no envelopes and stamps to buy. No longer do bills clutter the workplace, home office, or family's kitchen table.

What is a disadvantage of online bill pay automatic payments )? ›

Disadvantages of automatic bill payments include the difficulty in canceling them, the need to keep adequate funds in your checking account, and the potential of incurring a returned payment or late fee.

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