How Online Bill Pay Can Save You Time and Money

Many people have switched to online bill pay, and most of them do it for the convenience factor. Did you know, though, that paying your bills online could actually save you time and money? 

What is Online Bill Pay?

Online bill pay is, most simply stated – an online and/or automated way of paying your bills online. You can set it up with your bank to pay all of your bills or with each individual merchant by adding your credit, debit or bank account to a payment processor.

In addition to the convenience, online payment processors typically send regular reminders about payment due dates! That means, no more late payments and no more late fees. 

Get Discounts Online 

Many online payment processors offer discounts for automatic or online payments. Why? Because online payments are immediately applied to the account, meaning that the company spends less money on manpower. 

More common than getting a discount for paying online is getting a discount for going paperless. This means that you won’t even get a paper bill sent to your home but will, instead, get your bills by email or through an app. This helps to further reduce company costs which is why many businesses offer a discount for it. It’s a great way to reduce your mail and help the environment too! 

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Avoid Late Fees 

As I mentioned before, with online payments, it's easier to avoid those late fees. This is because companies will send you notices and information via email when your payment is upcoming or late. You’ll be more likely to pay attention to a notification on your cell phone or an email in your inbox than you would be to pay attention to another piece of mail that just looks like junk mail. Plus, you won't have to wait the 3-5 business days or more for notification to arrive.

Note: Switching to online bill pay doesn't guarantee that you will never pay a late fee again, but there are a few ways to avoid them. If you are struggling to make your payments, you may be able to set up a payment plan or ask for an extension. The earlier you do so, the better - so don't wait! 

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Create Automation 

To get even better at avoiding late fees, you can set up an automated process for online bill pay. This will allow your bills to be automatically taken out of your bank account or off of your credit card. While traditional online bill pay has you paying your bills each month manually, automated bill pay drafts the money from your account each month, so you don't have to worry about it!

Even better: many companies will also offer a discount for switching to automatic payments. This is because they have to spend less time notifying you about payments and can just take your payment right away. Always ask if you can get a discount for setting up automatic payments.

Reduced Time Spent Paying Bills

The amount of time that you can save with online bill pay is an indicator of just how good it can get. By switching to paying your bills online, you’ll be able to avoid spending time going from business to business to pay your bills. While we’ve already talked about the money you’ll save not having to “run errands,” it’s also an excellent way for you to save time. Having to go from place to place can take a big chunk out of your day so avoiding that all together is an excellent benefit of online bill pay. 

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Better Records 

Now that you’ve learned how online bill pay can save you time and money right now, you can also look toward the future. When you pay your bills online, you’ll always have a record of when you paid them and how much you paid. This is important because it will give you a better chance to track mistakes and look out for accounting errors. It’s also an excellent way for you to understand just how much money you’re spending on your bills and reduce them in the future. See your payment trends, look out for issues in bill pay, and learn about your bills so that you can save money in the long run. 

Whether you want to save the environment, save your wallet, save precious time, or embrace all three, online bill pay is an excellent choice. In many instances, paying your bills online takes just a few minutes. It’s a very secure and safe process that allows you to free up time and money!

How have you saved money with online bill pay? Leave a comment below and let us know!