Set up Auto Pay for monthly bill discounts FAQs (2024)

FAQs

What is the largest downside of setting up autopay to pay your bill? ›

Undetected Errors: With automatic bill payments, it's easy to get complacent about the money that's leaving your account. Your biller could accidentally withdraw the wrong amount or double-charge you. It could even fail to withdraw the money at all.

If you're still paying bills one by one, switching to automatic payments can streamline your personal finances while saving you money. Just be aware that some companies allow autopay discounts when paid from a bank account, debit card or credit card, but not for credit card payments.

To receive the monthly billing discount, you'll need to enroll in Paper-free billing along with Auto Pay.

Utilities and Other Variable Expenses

“If you have an especially high-use month, autopay can put you at risk for overdrafts if you're not prepared — and most overdraft charges are around $20 to $35 a pop.” Initiating one-time payments every month involves signing into your accounts.

That means the bills that have amounts that don't change drastically month to month. Things like your phone, your internet, even your rent, set those up, don't worry about them, but don't set your utility bills on auto pay, heat and water bills can clue you into how much you're really using.

Paying automatically (and always on time) helps you improve or maintain a good credit score. Once payments are set up, you don't have to keep doing the task each month.

While bill pay and autopay are similar, they work differently. With online bill pay, your bank sends payments to your creditor from your account. With autopay, your creditor takes money from your account. Here's how to decide which method is best for you.

An automatic discount (also known as a cart promotion or automatic discount) is a promotion that does not require a promo code to be applied at the checkout to work. Instead, it applies the discount automatically once promotion conditions are met.

It's best to schedule automatic bill payments a few days before the due date, as they can take up to five business days to process. How do you set up automatic bill payments? You can set up automatic bill payments through your bank or the company you want to pay (such as your utility or credit card company).

Autopay customers appear generally satisfied with the service. The company has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and a strong customer rating of 4.51 out of 5 stars.

What is AutoPay failure? ›

There are several reasons an automatic payment will fail. Mostly, they fail because of insufficient funds or the transaction was declined by the credit card company.

If you make a full monthly payment before your due date, AutoPay won't process for that billing cycle. If you make a smaller payment that isn't enough to pay the full amount due for the month, AutoPay will still process the full monthly amount due on your account.

Difficult to Remember

Because they are automatic, automated payments are difficult to monitor. You might find it hard to keep track of how many bills you have and which bill is paid when.

In general, using autopay is considered safe. Follow our guidelines: Explore your autopay options. Choices include whether you can use a credit card or just a bank account, and whether you still wish to receive an online invoice or paper bill in the mail.

For example, if your credit card is set to autopay, you might not review your transactions and could miss a fraudulent charge. Or, a subscription service might have charged you twice due to a billing error, and you might not have been looking at your statements closely enough to realize that.

Recurring billing does have some drawbacks

The added complexity for merchants and the risk of billing errors for customers means automated payments aren't always suitable for every company. Recurring billing can sometimes make it more difficult for customers to correct billing problems.

Borrowers who use autopay pay off between 8% and 17% less of their monthly credit-card balances compared with customers who make manual payments, according to the study.