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These are some of the most common questions we hear about Online Bill Pay. If you don’t see the answer to your question here, feel free to call Stacy Garves at (608) 784-3903 or send us an e-mail. We’re happy to help.
It is simple to sign-up for Online Bill Pay. Watch this tutorial to see just how easy it is.
Adding a payee to Bill Pay is easy too. Click here to watch our tutorial and see for yourself.
If you are having problems logging in to Bill Pay, click here.
To sign-up for Online Bill Pay click here.
About the Program Begin Using Bill Pay Bill Pay FAQ’s
Is Online Bill Pay secure?
Yes. Online Bill Pay is very secure. Each time you log in to online banking, a secure connection is opened to the bank. This connection is protected using a “Secure Sockets Layer,” or SSL, which is a security protocol that prevents eavesdropping, tampering, and message forgery over the internet. We offer additional protection to our online users with our firewall technology. Firewalls monitor all data traffic to and from Home Branch, ensuring that only known users are able to gain access. The full SSL specification can be reviewed here. Finally, our system will log the IP address from which you normally log in and if a login attempt is made from an unusual location you will be asked a security question that you set-up earlier.
What are the advantages to using Online Bill Pay?
- Online Bill Pay is another way to help prevent identity fraud. By paying your bills online, you eliminate the possibility of someone intercepting you payments in the mail and obtaining your personal information such as account numbers.
- Online Bill Pay is convenient. Pay your bills whenever and anywhere that you have internet access. You can even schedule bills to be paid in the future.
- Best of all, online Bill Pay is free. There is no monthly charge to use online Bill Pay. Customers are allowed to pay up to 20 bills per month at no charge. Any bills paid over the 20/month maximum are charged $0.50 per item.
How do I sign-up for Online Bill Pay?
You must have a Home Branch internet banking account to use the Bill Pay service. If you do not currently have a Home Branch account, click here to apply. If you are currently a Home Branch customer and would like to add Bill Pay to your account, click here to apply.
How do I log in to Bill Pay?
- On the main Home Branch menu click "Bill Payment."
- You will need to enter the last 4 digits of your social security or tax ID number as your PIN the first time you log in to Bill Pay.
- The system will prompt you to change your PIN. You can use the same PIN that you use for your Home Branch account if you wish.
- Next you will be asked to designate an account for Bill Payment; note that you can only use checking accounts for Bill Payment.
- You will be asked to select what you would like to use for the left-most digit for Bill Payment check numbers, and then click "Accept." You can now choose to set up other accounts for Bill Payment if you have more than one checking account.
- Watch this tutorial to see just how easy it is.
How do I set up the payees?
Before you start this process, you should have a current bill in front of you as you will need information such as account number, mailing address, etc. from your bill to set up the payee in Bill Pay.
- First, select “Payees” from the Bill Pay Menu and click "Add Payees" on the right side of the screen.
- Enter the name of the payee you want to add, making sure the spelling is correct, and click "Submit."
- If the payee is in the electronic payee database, click the correct payee from the list. Fill in the information for that payee.
- If your account number does not match the required format of the payee, a message will display with an option to set up as a check payee. This account format is set by the payee and may or may not required hyphens. If the format you enter doesn’t work, you can try again using a different format for the account number.
- Click here to watch our tutorial and see for yourself.
What if the payee is not in Coulee Bank's database?
- If a payee cannot be set up as an electronic payee (it is not in the electronic payee database), you will have to set it up as a check payment.
- Enter the payee information in the required fields and click "Submit."
- When payees are added they can be viewed by selecting Payees from the Bill Pay menu.
- You can use the "Edit" and “Delete” options to update your Payee List.
- Once a payee is added, you can only edit the account number and the alias of the payee. To change anything else (payee name, address, etc.) you will have to delete the payee and then add again with the correct information.
How do I set up payments?
- Choose "New Payment" from the Bill Pay menu.
- Choose "Add Payment" from the Bill Pay New Payment sub-menu.
- Choose the account you will be paying the bill from and click the down arrow by the "Select Payee" box to choose the payment you would like to make.
- Enter the amount.
- Enter a text memo if you wish.
- Select the frequency of the payment and the first payment date*. The date that you enter will be the date that the payment will be sent out (please allow 3-5 business days for an electronic payment and 5-7 business days for a check payment to be received).
* If you choose a frequency other than One-time you will need to either enter an expiration date or check the box “this payment has no expiration date”.
- Enter a description of your payment if you wish.
- If you have chosen a frequency other than one-time you will have the option to check “Variable Payment”, meaning the amount will be different each time. If you choose variable payment, the amount will reset to zero after each payment is made and you will have to enter the new amount before the next payment is scheduled to be made.
- Click "Submit" and the system will show your payment.
- Click here to watch our tutorial and see for yourself.
How can I view my payment history?
Click "History" from the Bill Pay menu and select the range to search in the "View Payment History for" box.
What are the types of payments, and when are transactions processed?
There are two types of payment - CHECK and ELECTRONIC. CHECKS are printed and mailed from the JHA Kansas Service Bureau on the same day that they are scheduled to be processed. ELECTRONIC payment information is sent to iPay. iPay sends electronic payments to the payees on the same day they are scheduled to be processed.
All Bill Pay payments are processed twice a day. The first processing begins at 2:00 a.m. CST, and the 2nd processing begins at 12:00 noon CST. Any payments entered after the 2:00 a.m. processing, and before the 12:00 noon processing will be processed the same day.
How are holidays and weekends handled?
Bills will not be paid on holidays or weekends. If a scheduled bill payment falls on a holiday or weekend, it will be paid on the Friday before the weekend, or the last working day before the holiday.
How long does a customer have to add, delete, or edit a payment?
You can add, edit, or delete a payment prior to 2:00 a.m. CST for the first processing, and prior to 12:00 noon CST for the second processing, on the day the payment is scheduled to be sent.
How far in advance can a payment be set up?
You can set up a recurring scheduled payment in advance to any date in the future. A one-time payment can be set up to 5 years in the future.
How many payees are customers able to set up?
There is no limit to the number of payees you can have.
Can I edit information for an existing payee?
The only information that can be edited on an existing payee is the alias name on the account and the account number. If you want to change anything else, you must delete the payee then re-enter them with the new information.
Is there anyone that I can’t pay using Bill Pay?
You cannot send an electronic payment to a payee that is not in the electronic database. A check payment can be sent to anyone with a US mailing address.
How long does it take a payment to reach the payee?
- An electronic payment takes 3 to 4 business days to reach the payee.
- A check will be in the mail on the same day the payment is scheduled, if it is entered before 12 noon CST. This is the same amount of time as if you wrote the check out of your checkbook, and put it in the mail on the same day. The only difference is that it will be printed and mailed directly from the JHA Kansas Service Bureau. This usually takes 5 to 7 business days.
Is there a maximum payment amount?
No. Electronic payments are validated against your account balance prior to processing, and check payments are settled against your account like any other check, therefore, there is no dollar limitation on payments made through Bill Pay. The customer is limited only by the amount of funds in their account.
Can I place stop payments on Bill Pay checks?
Yes. After the check is printed and mailed, the payment history will show the check number for the payment. The stop payment would be added in the same manner as for a regular check written from your checkbook and can be added any time up until the check clears your account. Please note that a stop payment cannot be put on an electronic Bill Payment.
Can I delete an electronic payment once I have submitted it?
An electronic payment can be deleted up until the time it is scheduled to be processed. Once the payment is submitted for processing, it cannot be deleted or stopped. At that point, it will be your responsibility to contact the payee for a refund, or you can ask us to submit a claim through iPay.
When are funds for payments taken out of my account?
- Electronic payments: funds are debited the same day that the payment is scheduled to be sent, if the payment is submitted before 12 noon CST. Electronic payments submitted after 12 noon CST are debited the next day during bill pay processing.
- Check payments: funds are debited from the account when the check clears the account in the same manner a check you had written would be debited.
Are checks drawn against my account mailed to the payee?
Yes. All checks issued through Bill Pay are encoded just as if they were a check from your checkbook. The signature line on the check is usually printed as ‘Authorized by Accountholder’. The checks are printed and mailed directly from the JHA Service Bureau in Kansas.
What happens if I initiate a payment and don’t have sufficient funds in my account?
Check payments are handled the same way as if you wrote out a check and had an insufficient balance.
Electronic payments are verified for funds availability during processing. If the funds are available, your account is debited for the payment, and the payment information is sent to iPay. If the funds are not available with the 2 a.m. processing, iPay will try again at the 12:00 noon processing. Your will receive a message after processing informing you that the payment could not be processed due to insufficient funds. The payment will continue to be attempted until you have added the funds to let it go through, or you delete the payment.
If you have questions about logging in or are having problems, please e-mail us.
If you have not already signed up for your personal Home Branch, please go to our secure online application.
Please double check your e-mail address. Your current e-mail address must be on file to ensure you will be able to use the PIN self-reset and be informed of any future enhancements.
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