Bill Pay Frequently Asked Questions

General Bill Pay Information

How do I access Bill Pay?
How much does Bill Pay cost?
What does the Payee receive?
How do I know if my bill payment will be sent via a check or sent electronically?
Can I stop payments?
What do I do if a bill pay check gets lost?

Setting Up & Editing Payees

How do I add a new bill?
Why are there two buttons for adding new bills - "Add New Bill" and "Add Private Party Payment"?
Why are there so many similar entries in the "Company Search" feature, and how do I selected the correct one?
How do I change payee information?
Why do I need to give you the complete address and a phone number for new bill payments?
How can I tell when verification has been completed for a company?
What is the "input mask" or "account number mask"?
How do I know if I have missing or incorrect information for any of the companies or individuals I have set up?
What is the "Personal Description" field in the "Update Bill Details" screen for?
Does the "Payment Memo" field display on the check or electronic payment?
How do I save information I have entered in the "Payment Memo" field?

Sending and Confirming Payments

I loaded a payment to be sent today but it has not yet been debited from my account. Why?
What is the cutoff time for entering payments?
How long does it take for a check or electronic payment to arrive at the company?
How can I determine if a company or individual has received my payment?
What is the purpose of the "History/Status" column of the main Bill Payment screen?
I entered all the dates and amounts to pay my bills and then exited the system and nothing was saved. Why?
Why do I get a message for some bills stating "Over Maximum Transfer"?

General Bill Pay Information

1.              How do I access Bill Pay?

Using Home Branch, there is a separate button for Bill Pay on the top of the screen.  Click on the button "Pay Bills" to access the program.  You may add payees at any time using Home Branch.

2.              How much does Bill Pay cost?

Bill pay is a free service for unlimited payments.

3.              What does the Payee receive?

The payee will receive an electronic payment if they are set up to accept these types of payments.  If the payment is going to an individual or a business that cannot accept an electronic payment, a check is mailed by our Bill Pay processor.  For both electronic payments and checks, your name and account number will be provided to the payee to ensure that your payment is posted to your account with the payee.

4.              How do I know if my bill payment will be sent via a check or sent electronically?

When selecting a company using the Company Search button, if the company accepts electronic payments, you will see the phrase "Electronic Payment Delivery" in place of the address on one or more listings for the company.  If all the company listings have physical addresses or post office boxes, then the company does not accept electronic payments.

5.              Can I stop payments?

A stop payment can be placed on a bill payment in the same manner as for any other preauthorized transfer as outlined in the Potlatch No1 Federal Credit Union "All About Your Account" brochure.  For future payments, simply delete the payment in the Bill Pay before 6:00 a.m. on the scheduled payment date, or call our Member Service Center and we can assist you with removing the payment.  If you would like to stop a payment that has already been sent, please contact our Member Service Center immediately.  They will first verify that the check/payment has not already cleared and if it hasn't, they will place a stop payment on the item.

6.              What do I do if a bill pay check gets lost?

Simply stop by any branch to complete a Bill Pay reissue form or call our Member Service Center and a form can be mailed or faxed to you.  We will reissue a Bill Payment to the same payee for the same amount as the original Bill Pay.

Setting Up & Editing Payees

1.           How do I add a new bill?

New bills are added by selecting either the Add New Bill or the Add Private Part Payment button located at the bottom of the main bill payment screen.  You should use the Add New Bill button for adding any bill paid to a company, and use the Add Private Party Payment for any bill or other payment made to an individual.  For example, you would use the Private Party Payment button if you wanted to send a payment to a friend or relative.

Once you select the Add New Bill button and have advanced to the Add a Bill screen, you may either use the Company Search button or manually enter your company information.  If you use the Company Search button and find a listing for your company with the same name and address as on your bill, and an account number mask that exactly matches your account number format, our bill pay processor will not have to verify your company.  If you manually enter your company information, the Bill Pay system will first attempt to match your company to a company that our bill pay processor has already verified.  If this cannot be done, then the verification process will begin and you will need to wait approximately 5 to 7 business days before a payment can be sent.

Once you select the Add a Private Party Payment button, you will need to manually enter the private party information requested.  While there is no verification process for payments to individuals, a phone number is still required so that the private party can be contacted if there is a problem with the delivery of your bill payment.

2.           Why are there two buttons for adding new bills - "Add New Bill" and "Add Private Party Payment"?

There are two buttons for adding new bills because companies and private parties are handled differently by our bill pay processor.  Your should use the Add New Bill button for adding any bill paid to a company, and use the Add Private Party Payment for any bill or other payment made to an individual.  For example, you would use the Private Party payment button if you wanted to send a payment to a friend or relative.

3.           Why are there so many similar entries in the "Company Search" feature, and how do I selected the correct one?

Some companies have centralized billing systems and some have different billing centers and/or addresses depending on the type of bill you are paying and the method you use to pay it. You should use the company listing which has the same name and address as your bill and also has an account number mask that exactly matches the format of your account number with the company. If the company list does not have an account mask that exactly matches your account number with the company, you will not be able to use the Company Search feature for the particular bill payment you are entering.

4.           How do I change payee information?

You can change your payee information through Home Branch Access 24 hours a day. In addition, you may complete a Bill Pay Personal Payee Form available in any branch office or if you have a telephone password, you can change a payee by calling our Member Service Center. (Payees may be deleted over the phone without a telephone password, but for security purposes they cannot be changed over the phone without the password.)

5.           Why do I need to give you the complete address and a phone number for new bill payments?

All companies you enter into Bill Pay are "verified" by our bill pay processor before any payments are sent. The bill pay processor contacts your company to verify the mailing address and to see if they accept electronic payments, which generally provide for more accurate and timely credit of your bill payments. If applicable, the processor checks that the format of your account number with the company matches the company's required format. (Some companies have required formats and some do not.) If the bill pay processor has previously verified your company for another member, they will not need to re-verify. Instead they will simply check your company's address and phone number, along with your account number format, to their data base of verified, or "registered," vendors and find the appropriate match. Both the address and phone number are used in their matching process.

6.           How can I tell when verification has been completed for a company?

You can determine if a verification has been completed by reviewing the detailed information included on the Bill History screen. To access this screen, click on the status word (i.e., "N/A," "Paid," etc.) in the History/Status column of the main Bill Payment screen for the company you wish to review. If the verification has been completed, you will see a description in one of the lines in the left hand column stating "Verification Received."

7.           What is the "input mask" or "account number mask"?

The input or account number mask is the structure of the account number for a company. For example, if you select a company from the Company Search and you see for the account number a series of N's, the "input mask" is all numbers, equal to how many N's are listed. A company who has an "account number mask" of 4426NNNNNNNNNNNN accepts payments for accounts which begin with 4426 and are then followed by 12 additional numbers, without any spaces or dashes. A company who has an "account number mask" of NNNNN-NNNNN accepts payments for accounts which have 5 numbers, then a dash, then 5 numbers. A company who has an "account number mask" of XX-NNNNN accepts payments for accounts which have 2 numbers or letters, then a dash, then 5 numbers. A company who has an "account number mask" of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX accepts payments where the account number consists of between 1 and 20 numbers, letters or spaces. This "account number mask" of 20 X's, is called a "free format mask" and indicates that the company will accept an account number in any format, with the exception of symbols. When you enter your account number in the Add A Bill screen, you must enter it in the same format as what you see on the screen for the "input mask."

8.           How do I know if I have missing or incorrect information for any of the companies or individuals I have set up?

When you first logon, Home Branch Access will display a screen to tell you that you have bill pay messages. You can view these messages by clicking on the Bill Pay icon, then clicking on the Alerts icon in the upper left hand corner of the main Bill Payment screen.

9.           What is the "Personal Description" field in the "Update Bill Details" screen for?

This is an optional field that lets you change the company name that displays on the main Bill Payment screen. For example, if you had two payments to a single company, you could differentiate between the two entries on the main Bill Payment screen by putting in a custom name for each in the Personal Description field -- perhaps "Cable TV Bill" and "Long Distance Telephone Bill" if you had two bills from a single telephone company, but for different services.

10.       Does the "Payment Memo" field display on the check or electronic payment?

Yes. You can use this field to provide the your company or individual additional information about your bill.

11.       How do I save information I have entered in the "Payment Memo" field?

To save the memo information for future payments, simply click the box labeled Ongoing Memo to the right of the Payment Memo field. The Payment Memo field can be accessed either from the main Bill Payment screen, or the Update Bill Details screen.

Sending and Confirming Payments

1.       I loaded a payment to be sent today but it has not yet been debited from my account. Why?

There are two possible reasons your bill has not been debited from your account. First, payments are debited from your account only once each Potlatch No1 Federal Credit Union business day (Monday through Saturday, except holidays) at 6 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST). If you load a payment for "today" after 6:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday, it will not be debited from your account until the next business day at 6 a.m. Second, your account cannot be debited and your bill sent until your company has been "verified." The verification process usually takes 5 to 7 days and is only performed when you initially set up a new bill payment. If you add your new bill payment using the Company Search button, then there is no verification process, as all the vendors listed have been previously verified.

2.       What is the cutoff time for entering payments?

Bill payment requests made before 6:00 a.m. (PST) Monday through Saturday will be withdrawn from your account on the same business day. Any payment requests made after 6:00 a.m. will be processed the following business day. The 6:00 a.m. cut-off is done to ensure our third party processor receives and generates the payment to your Payee the same day. Our processor generates payments Monday through Friday, except Federal Reserve Holidays.

3.       How long does it take for a check or electronic payment to arrive at the company?

You should plan on the normal mailing time for any company or individual being sent a check. For companies receiving electronic payments, they will receive them in either one or two business days.

4.       How can I determine if a company or individual has received my payment?

Similar to paying a bill with your personal check, you cannot tell exactly when a company or individual actually receives your payment, only when the check clears the account it was drawn on. The date a bill payment check or electronic payment is posted to our bill pay processor's account is included in the Bill History information screen. To review this screen, click on the status word (i.e., "N/A," "Paid," etc.) in the History/Status column of the main Bill Payment screen. The date the check or electronic payment cleared the bill pay processor's account is displayed in the far right hand column of the Bill History screen labeled Cleared Date.

5.       What is the purpose of the "History/Status" column of the main Bill Payment screen?

The History/Status column provides detailed information about each company and bill. For example, you can monitor the status of a bill using information displayed in this column. When a date is entered on the main Bill Payment screen to schedule a bill for payment, the History/Status column will change to "Scheduled"; when the account has been debited, the status will change to "In Process"; and when the check has cleared our bill pay processor the status will change to "Paid". You can also use the History/Status column to alert you to errors in your bill payment information. If the information for a particular company or individual is missing some of the required information, the History/Status column will show "Incomplete." If the address or phone number entered is incorrect the History/Status column will show "Error." An "N/A" in this column means that you have not paid any bills for the company or individual.

By clicking on the status (i.e., "N/A," "Paid," etc.) in the History/Status column, you can also review the details of all past activity for the particular bill payment company.

6.       I entered all the dates and amounts to pay my bills and then exited the system and nothing was saved. Why?

After entering or changing any information on the main Bill Payment screen, you must click on the Save Changes to Bills icon located at either the top of the screen or at the bottom of the screen.

7.       Why do I get a message for some bills stating "Over Maximum Transfer"?

This is a Federal Reserve Regulation D issue. Regulation D governs preauthorized transfers and third party transactions on savings accounts, and bill payments are considered preauthorized transfers under this Regulation. The Regulation only allows 6 preauthorized transfers and/or third party transactions per month. Unfortunately, the credit union has no control over this Regulation. The Regulation applies only to "non-transaction" accounts, which in the case of Potlatch No1 Federal Credit Union are savings accounts. Checking accounts do not have these limitations. You will only encounter this issue if bills are paid from a regular or money market savings account.