Online Payment Service Bill Pay

After you are logged onto Home Branch, proceed with the following:

1.  Click on Pay Bills.

2.  The first time you sign on you will need to read and agree to the terms and conditions disclosure.  This will not come up again after you continue.  You will also need to put a default account in from the pull down list which your bills will automatically deduct from.

3.  At the top of the screen you will see an icon that says Alerts.  If a member has a message from the Credit Union they will click on this icon in the Pay Bills feature to read their Alert.

4.  At the bottom of the screen you will see Add New Bill, Add Private Party Payment, Stop Bill Pay Service.  Once you have payees loaded, one more option will be listed Display Bill Schedule.

NOTE:  Before adding payees, make sure to have your remittance slips for all bills present, with company name, address, phone number and your account number with that company.

5. To add new bill, click on Add New Bill:

• Click on Company Search to see if the company is in the database. Type the company name in.  (The less you enter, the broader the search, for example, if you type in Lewiston you will get a list of all companies that begin with Lewiston, such as Lewiston Morning Tribune & Lewiston Orchard's Irrigation District).
  
  
• Type in the State that you currently send your bill to. (Optional)
  
  
• Type in your Account number.  This is extremely helpful for large companies, such as MCI, Avista, First USA, etc.  Your account number will narrow the search to specifically meet the information that you have entered.  (Optional)
  
  
• Click on Search Company File.
  
  
• The matches will come up.  Review each match and verify the address and account number to your current remittance slip.  It is very important to look at the “ACCOUNT NUMBER” field when making your selection.  There are several factors to note about the “ACCOUNT NUMBER” field:
  
  First, you will see X’s or N’s in the field.
  
  The “Account Number” field is where member can enter their account number associated with this bill payee. Next to the field is an “Input Mask” which is an example of the format the member should use when entering their account number.
  
  Here is what the formats mean:

• Once you have positive ID for the company, choose that company by clicking the bullet and clicking Select Company.
  
  
• This will bring up the remaining fields to be completed for your company.  Anything in Blue is required, black is optional.
  
  
• Your account number will already be filled in, if it was used in the search option, however it is extremely important that it is verified and accurate.  An inaccurate account number may delay payment.
  
  
• Type in the Name on the Bill.
  
  
• Personal Description is how the company will appear on your payee list. You may enter any description you like.
  
  
• Select the account that you would like your payment to be debited from.
  
  
• Select Payment Frequency - Manual, One Time Only, Monthly, etc
  
  
  • Manual – the member indicates when the bill is to be paid each time
  • One time only – the bill is paid once
  • Monthly – the bill is paid the same day each month
  • Weekly – the bill is paid on the same weekday, each week
  • Bi-Weekly – the bill is paid every 14 days
  • Semi-Monthly – the bill is paid 2 times per month, the first payment between the 1st and the 13th, the second payment between the 16th and the 28th.
  • Semi-Monthly Last - the bill is paid 2 times per month, the first payment on the 15th and the second payment on the last day of the month.
  • Monthly Last - the bill is paid on the last day of each month.
  • Quarterly - the bill is paid on the same date every 3 months
  • Semi-Annually - the bill is paid on the same day every 6 months
  • Annually - the bill is paid on the same date every 12 months
    
    
• Payment Amount (Optional)
  
  
• Budget Category if using Microsoft Money, Quicken, etc. (Optional)
  
  
• Next Payment Date (Optional)
  
  
• Last Payment Date (Optional) - when you want the payment to stop.
  
  
• Payment Memo (Optional) - memo to go with payment, click the Ongoing Memo bullet if you'd like it to go every time.
  
  
• Click OK.

If the company is not in the database, all the information can be loaded manually and submitted for verification.  Once the vendor is verified, they will be added to the database for use.  This process may take 7 to 10 days.

Once you have entered all of the information for the new bill, it will appear in your Bill Payment Schedule. You can update bill details and change the frequency, amount, pay from account, or delete bills on your Bill Payment Schedule page.