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Online Bill Payment Guide

Payees and E-Billing

Adding Payees
Requesting E-Billing

Working with Payments

            Finding Pending Payments
            Approving Pending Payments
            Modifying a Scheduled Bill Payment
            Modifying a Recurring Bill Payment
            Discontinuing Recurring Bill Payments and Canceling Related Pending Payments
            Exporting Bill Records

Paying Bills

            Paying a Single Bill
            Paying Recurring Bills
            Paying Electronic Bills (E-Bills)
            Viewing an Electronic Bill
            Canceling Electronic Billing

Payees and E-Billing

The Bill Pay process creates payments that transfer funds from a checking account to a transaction recipient, usually via electronic payment.

Adding Payees to the Payee List

Before you can submit a payment to a recipient, you must first add that recipient to the Payee List for your account.

1. From the Funds Mgmt menu, select Bill Pay. The Bill Pay screen is displayed.

2. Select the Create Payee tab.

3. Click the Add Payee button. The Create Payee – Add a Payee pane is displayed.

4. In the Payee Name field, enter a name for the payee.

5. In the Account Number section:

• If you have an account number or code with the payee

1. Select the I have an account number with this payee radio button.

2. In the Account Number field, enter the account number.

• If you do not have an account number or code with the payee, or if the payee does not offer accounts

1. Select the I do not have an account number with this payee radio button.

2. In the Check Memo field, enter a description meaningful to the payee (e.g., your company name). This information is entered in the Memo field if a check is mailed to the payee.

6. In the Payee Address, Payee City, Payee State, and Payee ZIP Code fields, enter the billing address for the payee. Enter this information exactly as it is presented on your bill.

Note: In the second Payee Address field, if the information you are entering does not begin with a number, you must prefix your entry with either ATTN: or C/O. Entries not prefixed with a number, ATTN:, or C/O will be ignored.

7. In the Payee Phone field, enter the telephone number that you would use to contact the payee for Customer Service questions.

8. [Optional] In the Payee Category section, specify category information for the payee. This information is purely for internal use. It could be used when searching for payments—to locate all payments of a specific type, for example. Do one of the following:

• Select an existing category

1. Select the radio button next to the drop-down list.
2. From the drop-down list, select the category.

• Create a new category

1. Select the Add Category radio button.
2. In the Add Category field, enter a new category name.

9. [Optional] In the Account Description field, enter a description for the payee. This description is displayed in the Payee list and when a payee is selected. If, for example, you have two accounts with a payee, entering account descriptions in this field will help you select the correct account when you create a bill payment.

10. Click the Continue button. The Create Payee – Add a Payee Confirmation screen is displayed.

11. If you specified an account number, in the Account Number field re-enter the account number to verify that the correct number is associated with the payee.

12. Click the Add Payee button. The Create Payee – Payee List screen is displayed. The created payee is added to the Payee List pane.

Requesting Electronic Billing

Electronic billing can help eliminate paper bills by presenting you with an electronic version of your bill that can be paid through the Bill Pay module.

Note: It can take several weeks for payees to initiate electronic billing. Continue paying paper bills through the system or by writing checks until you receive email notification that your account has been set up on the payee’s system and electronic billing will commence.

1. From the Funds Mgmt menu, select Bill Pay. The Bill Pay screen is displayed.

2. Select the Create Payee tab.

3. Click the Add Payee button. The Create Payee – Add a Payee pane is displayed.

4. Click the Click here to view and add payees that can send e-bills hyperlink. A list of available payees is displayed, arranged in alphabetical order.

5. Click the hyperlinked name of the payee to be added. To navigate through the payee list, click the hyperlinked numbers and letters at the top of the pane, or click the Next >> and << Back hyperlinks to move through the list one screen at a time.

6. In the Account Number field, enter your account number with the payee.

7. In the Payee Address, Payee City, Payee State, and Payee ZIP Code fields, enter the billing address for the payee. Enter this information exactly as it is presented on your bill.

8. In the Payee Phone field, enter the telephone number that you would use to contact the payee for Customer Service questions.

9. [Optional] In the Payee Category section, specify category information for the payee. This information is purely for internal use. It could be used when searching for payments—to locate all payments of a specific type, for example. Do one of the following:

• Select an existing category

1. Select the radio button next to the drop-down list.
2. From the drop-down list, select the category.

• Create a new category

1. Select the Add Category radio button.
2. In the Add Category field, enter a new category name.

10. [Optional] In the Account Description field, enter a description for the payee. This description is displayed in the Payee list, and when a payee is selected. If, for example, you have two accounts with a payee, entering account descriptions in this field will help ensure that the correct account is paid.

11. Click the Continue button. The Create Payee – Add a Payee Confirmation screen is displayed.

12. In the Account Number field, re-enter the account number to verify that the correct number is associated with the payee.

Note: If an incorrect account number is entered, you will be returned to the Create Payee – Add a Payee screen.Verify the account number, then click the Continue button to return to the confirmation screen, where you can re-enter the number.

13. Click the Add Payee button. The Create Payee – View/Change a Payee Completed screen is displayed.

14. Click the Continue button. The Create Payee – Request E-bills screen is displayed.

15. In the Payee Information section, enter the information requested. Note: Some payees require your registration on their Web site in order for you to receive electronic bills.

16. In the Business E-Mail Address field, verify your email address, correcting it if necessary.

17. [Optional] To receive notification when bills from this payee arrive, select the I would like to receive e-bills by e-mail from this payee checkbox.

18. To provide your email address to the payee, select the I want to send my e-mail address to the payee checkbox. Some payees require your email address; for others, providing it is optional.

19. In the Service Address section, review the address information presented and make corrections, if necessary, to the address of the location where the payee provides service for the account. The default service address is the business address provided when you were initially set up on the system.

20. [Optional] In the Auto-Pay section, if available, select an autopay option for e-bills received from the account:

• If you do not want to automatically pay e-bills received from this payee, Select the No radio button.

• If you want to automatically pay e-bills received from this payee:

1. Select the Yes radio button.

2. Select a payment option.

• Pay the minimum payment on the e-bill regardless of the minimum payment due Select the Always pay the E-bill radio button.

• Pay the minimum payment on the e-bill only if it is less than a specific amount

1. Select the Only Pay E-bills Less Than This Amount radio button.

2. In the Only Pay E-bills Less Than This Amount field, enter the maximum value of the minimum payment to be paid. If the minimum amount due exceeds the specified value, the bill will not be automatically paid.

3. From the Auto-Pay From This Payment Account dropdown list, select a payment account.

Note: Auto-pay can pay only the minimum payment due. If a minimum payment is made with auto-pay and you want to pay the remaining balance (for a corporate credit card, for example), you must manually create another payment to that payee.

21. Click the Continue button. The Create Payee – Request E-bills Confirmation screen is displayed.

22. Click the Send Request button. Your request is submitted, and the Create Payee – Request E-bills Completed screen is displayed.

Note: You can also request electronic billing from payees on the Payee List, if a payee is capable of e-billing. From the Payee List, in the E-bills column, click a sign up hyperlink.

Working With Payments

Once a bill payment has been scheduled, it is added to one of the Payment Activity tab’s two screens:

• All Payments
• Unapproved Payments

When you enter the Bill Pay module, you begin on the Unapproved Payments screen of the Payment Activity tab. To move between the two screens, click the All Payments or Unapproved Payments hyperlinks.

Finding Pending Bill Payments

1. From the Funds Mgmt menu, select Bill Pay. The Payment Activity tab of the Bill Pay screen is displayed, opening on the Unapproved Payments pane.

2. Do one of the following:

• To search for unapproved payments, remain on this screen.

• To search for pending payments regardless of approval status, click the All Payments hyperlink. The All Payments screen is displayed.

3. In the Payment Activity Search (on the All Payments screen) or Unapproved Payment Search (on the Unapproved Payments screen) pane, specify search criteria.

• Select the All Dates radio button, or select the second radio button and enter starting and ending dates, using mm/dd/yyyy format.

• Do any or all of the following:

1. On the All Payments screen

• From the Category drop-down list, select a category name (this option is useful only if you have grouped your payees into categories).

• From the Status drop-down list, select a payment status.

2. On the All Payments or Unapproved Payments screens

• From the Payee drop-down list, select a payee.

• From the Payment Account drop-down list, select the account number from which payments are to be issued.

• From the Initiated By drop-down list, select the payment initiator.

4. Click the Search button. Results are displayed in the Payment Activity Search Results pane.

Approving Pending Bill Payments

Since certain users may have authorization to create payments but not to release them for payment, payments created by these users must be approved by a user with the appropriate authorization.

1. From the Funds Mgmt menu, select Bill Pay. The Payment Activity tab of the Bill Pay screen is displayed, opening on the Unapproved Payments pane.

2. Do one of the following:

• Approve all payments
Click the Select All button. All payment item checkboxes are selected.

• Approve one or more payments
In the Approve column, select the checkboxes associated with the payments to be approved.

3. Click the Continue button. The Payment Activity – Approve Payments Confirmation screen is displayed.

4. Review the payment information, then click the Approve button. The Payment Activity – Approve Payments Completed screen is displayed.

Modifying a Scheduled Bill Payment

Users with the appropriate permissions can modify any scheduled payment that has not yet been processed. Note: This process modifies only payments with a status of “Scheduled,” and modifies only the currently-scheduled payment.

1. From the Funds Mgmt menu, select Bill Pay. The Payment Activity tab of the Bill Pay screen is displayed, opening on the Unapproved Payments pane.

2. Click the All Payments hyperlink. The All Payments pane is displayed.

3. Click the View/Change link associated with the payment to be modified. The Payment Activity – View/Change Payment screen is displayed.

4. Make the necessary changes to the Payment Date, Amount, or From Payment Account.

5. Click the Continue button. The Payment Activity – Change Payment Confirmation screen is displayed.

6. Review the updated payment information, then click the Save button. Your changes are saved, and the Payment Activity – Change Payment Completed screen is displayed. [Optional] Click the Cancel button to discard your changes. Changes to the payment will be discarded.

Modifying a Recurring Bill Payment

You can make changes to payment information for any recurring bill payment with a status of “Active” or “Pending.” Note: You cannot modify payment schedule.To change the scheduling of a payment, you must delete the existing payment and add a new payment with the desired payment schedule.

1. From the Funds Mgmt menu, select Bill Pay. The Bill Pay screen is displayed.

2. Select the Create A Payment tab.

3. Click the Repeat Payments hyperlink. The Create A Payment – Repeating Payments screen is displayed.

4. Click the View/Change hyperlink associated with the recurring payment to be modified. The Create A Payment – View/Change Repeating Payment screen is displayed.

5. Make the necessary changes in the Payment Amount field and/or the Payment Account drop-down list.

6. Click the Continue button. The Create A Payment – Change Repeating Payment Confirmation screen is displayed.

7. Review the updated payment information, then click the Save Changes button. Your changes are saved, and the Create A Payment – Change Repeating Payment Completed screen is displayed.

[Optional] Click the Cancel button to discard your changes. Changes to the payment will be discarded.

Discontinuing Recurring Bill Payments and Canceling Related Pending Payments

You can discontinue the recurrence of any recurring bill payment with a status of “Active” or “Pending.” Discontinuing payment recurrence serves two purposes:

• It prevents future payments from being generated.

• It cancels any pending payments based on the recurring payment.

1. From the Funds Mgmt menu, select Bill Pay. The Bill Pay screen is displayed.

2. Select the Create A Payment tab. The Create A Payment – Make a Single Payment screen is displayed.

3. Click the Repeat Payments hyperlink. The Create A Payment – Repeating Payments screen is displayed.

4. Click the Delete hyperlink associated with the recurring payment to be discontinued. The Create A Payment – Delete Repeating Payment Confirmation screen is displayed.

5. Review the payment information, then click the Yes button. The Create A Payment – Delete Repeating Payment Completed screen is displayed. [Optional] Click the No button to discard the request.

Exporting Bill Records

To export bill records for offline use: From the All Payments screen, you can export information about payment transactions into formats specific to any of the following desktop financial management software packages:

• Intuit QuickBooks®
• Intuit Quicken®
• Microsoft Money®

Note: To export information you must first narrow the displayed payments to payments drawn on one account. Use the Search utility to narrow the displayed payment by account.

1. From the Funds Mgmt menu, select Bill Pay. The Payment Activity tab of the Bill Pay screen is displayed, opening on the Unapproved Payments pane.

2. Click the All Payments hyperlink. The All Payments screen is displayed.

3. Search for payments drawn against a single account.

4. In the Financial Software Export section of the screen (at the bottom of the screen), select a software version from the dropdown list.

5. Click the Export button. The File Download dialog box is displayed.

6. Save the file to a local or network drive.

Paying Bills

Once you have set up a payment recipient on the system, you can issue a payment to that payee. Payments can be made on a single bill or on a recurring bill. (Recurring bills may be either occurrences of a recurring bill set up manually or occurrences of electronic bills submitted by payees.)

Paying a Single Bill

Note: Manual single-bill payment offers an option to include invoice or credit memo detail to be submitted with the payment.The procedure for including invoice and credit memo detail is included in the single-bill payment procedure below.

1. From the Funds Mgmt menu, select Bill Pay. The Bill Pay screen is displayed.

2. Select the Create A Payment tab. The Single Payments pane is displayed by default.

3. [Optional] In the Check Number field, specify a check number to be included with the payment. If you do not enter a check number, a check number will be assigned by the system when you submit the payment. Automatic check numbering begins with 995001.

Note: If a paper check is issued, the check number is included on the check, prefixed with “99” (e.g., check number 1000 would be recorded as check number 991000). If an electronic payment can be issued to the payee, the check number will be replaced with a system-generated identification number.

4. From the Pay To The Order Of drop-down list, select a payee.

5. In the Payment Date field, enter the date on which the payee is to receive the payment, using mm/dd/yyyy format.

• If the payment request is submitted (and, if necessary, approved) before 1 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on a business day
The date entered must be at least 4 business days after the current date, beginning with the current day.

• If the payment request is submitted (and, if necessary, approved) after 1 PM EST on a business day, or on a nonbusiness day
The date entered must be at least 5 business days after the current date, beginning with the current day.

Note: The first valid date is entered for you in the Payment Date field when you access the Single Payments tab.

6. In the Amount field, enter the amount to be paid. Note: If you choose to associate invoices and/or credit memos with the payment, the value in the Amount field will be recalculated in response to the totals of those invoices and credit memos, and the amount you entered will be discarded. You can modify this amount after you have finished with invoice and credit memo activities.

7. From the From Payment Account drop-down list, select the account from which the bill is to be paid.

8. [Optional] If the payment is in response to an invoice:

• In the Invoice Information pane, click the Add Invoice button. The Create A Payment – Add Invoice screen is displayed.

• In the Invoice Number field, enter an invoice number associated with the payment.

• In the Invoice Amount field, enter the invoiced amount.

• [Optional] In the Invoice Description field, enter a description of the invoice. This information is for your use only.

• [Optional] If an adjustment is to be applied to the invoice due to a discrepancy between the invoiced amount and the amount due:

1. In the Adjustment Amount field, enter the amount of the adjustment.

2. In the Adjustment Description field, enter a description of the adjustment.

• [Optional] If a discount is to be applied to the invoiced amount:

1. In the Discount Amount field, enter the amount of the discount.

2. In the Discount Description field, enter a description of the discount.

• Click the Add button to add this invoice to the list of invoices associated with the payment. You can associate up to 10 invoices with a payment.

• Do one of the following:

1. If the current invoice was the last to be associated with the payment
Click the Finished button to return to the Single Payments pane.

2. If additional invoices are to be associated with the payment
Repeat this sub-procedure, starting with step 2.

9. [Optional] If credit memos are to be applied to the amount due:

• In the Credit Memo Information pane, click the Add Credit Memo button. The Create A Payment - Add Credit Memo screen is displayed.

• In the Credit Memo Number field, enter the credit memo number associated with the payment.

• In the Credit Memo Amount field, enter the amount for which the credit memo was issued.

• In the Credit Memo Description field, enter a description for the credit memo.

• Click the Add button to add this credit memo to the list of credit memos associated with the payment. You can associate up to 2 credit memos with a payment.

• Do one of the following:

1. If the current credit memo was the last to be associated with the payment
Click the Finished button to return to the Single Payments pane.

2. If an additional credit memo is to be associated with the payment
Repeat this sub-procedure, starting with step 2.

10. Click the Continue button. The Create A Payment – Make a Single Payment Confirmation screen is displayed.

11. Review your payment information, then click the Pay button. The Create A Payment – Make a Single Payment Completed screen is displayed. The payment is scheduled (or made available for approval and payment, depending on your system validations).

[Optional] Click the Cancel button to discard the payment without scheduling it.

Paying Recurring Bills

Once you have set up a payee, you can manually create a recurring payment, or create a payment that recurs in response to electronic bills submitted from the payee.

Note: Manual payment of bills, whether recurring or one-time, has no effect on e-bills sent to you by payees. In other words, if you create a manual bill payment to a payee that sends you e-bills, you will still receive an e-bill from that payee.

1. From the Funds Mgmt menu, select Bill Pay. The Bill Pay screen is displayed.

2. Select the Create A Payment tab. The Create A Payment – Make a Single Payment screen is displayed.

3. Click the Repeating Payments link at the top of the screen (beneath the tabs). The Create A Payment – Repeating Payments screen is displayed.

4. Click the Add Repeating Payment button. The Create A Payment – Add Repeating Payment screen is displayed.

5. From the Payee drop-down list, select a payee.

6. In the Payment Amount field, enter the amount of the recurring payment.

7. In the First Payment Date field, enter the date on which the payee is to receive the first of the repeating payments. Use mm/dd/yyyy format.

• If the payment request is submitted (and, if necessary, approved) before 1 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on a business day The date entered must be at least 4 business days after the current date, beginning with the current day.

• If the payment request is submitted (and, if necessary, approved) after 1 PM EST on a business day, or on a nonbusiness day The date entered must be at least 5 business days after the current date, beginning with the current day.

Note: The first valid date is entered for you in the Payment Date field when you access the Single Payments tab.

8. From the Payment Frequency drop-down list, select a payment frequency:

• Once every month: Every month, on the same date you picked for the first payment.

• Twice every month: On the same date as the first payment, plus 15 days. For example, if the first payment is scheduled for June 5, the next payment dates would be June 20, July 5, July 20, and August 4.

• Every week: Every week, on the same day of the week as the day you picked for the first payment.

• Every 2 weeks: Every other week, on the same day of the week as the day you picked for the first payment.

• Every 4 weeks: Every 28 days from the previous payment date, starting with the first payment.

• Every 2 months: Every other month, on the same payment date as the first payment.

• Every 3 months: Every three months, on the same payment date as the first payment.

• Every 6 months: Every six months, on the same payment date as the first payment.

• Every year: Once per year, on the same payment date as the first payment.

Note: Payment dates must occur on a business day. If a recurring payment is scheduled for a day that is not a business day, the payment is rescheduled for the business day preceding the scheduled date. If, for example, the 15th of a month is a Saturday, the payment would be rescheduled for Friday the 14th.

9. In the Number of Payments section, specify a duration for the recurring payment cycle:

• Specify a specific number of payments

1. Select the Number of Payments radio button next to the empty field.

2. Enter the number of payments in the field.

• Leave the recurrence cycle open-ended
Select the Pay Until Further Notice radio button.

10. [Optional] In the Final Payment Amount field, enter the amount to be paid as the final payment in the recurring payment cycle, if that amount differs from the amount ordinarily sent.

11. From the Payment Account drop-down list, select the account from which funds for the payment are to be withdrawn.

12. Click the Continue button. The Create A Payment – Add Repeating Payment Confirmation screen is displayed.

13. Click the Add button. The Create A Payment – Add Repeating Payment Completed screen is displayed. [Optional] Click the Cancel button to discard the payment without scheduling it.

Paying Electronic Bills (E-bills)

An electronic bill (e-bill) is a bill that you can view and pay on-line. E-bills contain the same information found in paper bills, but the payment information is provided for you within the Bill Pay module; virtually all you need to do to pay an e-bill is click Pay.

In order to pay e-bills, you must add an electronic billing-capable payee to your payee list and request e-billing from that payee.

Payment on e-bills can be authorized manually, or you can set up an e-bill for automatic payment.

Notes:
• It may take a month or longer to receive your first e-bill from a payee, depending on the payee’s billing cycle for your account.

• Automatic payment of e-bills pays only the minimum scheduled payment. To pay more than the minimum amount due, create a manual bill payment for the difference between the minimum payment and the balance due.

1. From the Funds Mgmt menu, select Bill Pay. The Bill Pay screen is displayed.

2. Select the E-bills tab. The Unpaid E-bills screen is displayed.

3. Click the Pay link associated with the e-bill to be paid. The Unpaid E-bills – Pay E-bill screen is displayed. Information about the payment, including amount due and balance, is displayed in a pane above an area of the screen arranged to look like a check.

4. In the Payment Date field, enter a payment date. This is the date on which the payee is scheduled to receive the payment. Use mm/dd/yyyy format.

• If the payment request is submitted (and, if necessary, approved) before 1 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on a business day The date entered must be at least 4 business days after the current date, beginning with the next business day.

• If the payment request is submitted (and, if necessary, approved) after 1 PM EST on a business day, or on a nonbusiness day The date entered must be at least 5 business days after the current date, beginning with the next business day.

5. In the Amount field, the minimum payment amount is entered for you.

• To pay the minimum payment, do nothing in this field.

• To pay a different amount, enter that amount in this field.

6. From the From Payment Account drop-down list, select the account from which funds for the payment are to be withdrawn.

7. Click the Continue button. The Unpaid E-bills – Pay E-bill Confirmation screen is displayed.

8. Review the payment information, then click the Pay button. The Unpaid E-bills – Payment Completed screen is displayed. The e-bill is moved from this screen to the Paid E-bills screen. [Optional] Click the Cancel button to discard the payment without scheduling it.

Viewing an Electronic Bill

Electronic bills contain the same information contained in the paper bills you would ordinarily receive from the payee.

Note: Electronic bills are retained for 180 days from the date that payment is submitted. At any time during that period, you can view and/or print them.

1. From the Funds Mgmt menu, select Bill Pay. The Bill Pay screen is displayed.

2. Select the E-bills tab. The Unpaid E-bills screen is displayed.

3. Do one of the following:

• To view unpaid e-bills, remain on this screen.

• To view paid e-bills, click the Paid E-bills hyperlink.

4. Click the View hyperlink associated with the e-bill to be viewed. The e-bill is displayed.

Canceling Electronic Billing

You can request cancellation of electronic billing at any point after the payee has begun transmitting electronic bills to you. If you cancel electronic billing for a payee, you no longer receive e-bills, and any e-bills set up for automatic payment are not automatically paid. Even after canceling electronic billing, you can continue making payments to the payee from the Make Payment screen.

1. From the Funds Mgmt menu, select Bill Pay. The Bill Pay screen is displayed.

2. Select the Create Payee tab.

3. In the Action column, click the View/Change hyperlink associated with the payee to be modified. The Create Payee – View/Change Payee Information screen is displayed.

4. In the E-bill Information section, select the Check here to stop receiving e-bills from this payee checkbox.

5. Click the Continue button. The Create Payee – Change Payee Confirmation screen is displayed.

[Optional] Click the Cancel button to discard your changes and return to the Create Payee – Payee List screen.