Paying your bills

Whether it’s mobile phone bills, gym membership, lay-bys, or other things you need to pay off, there are many ways to make the payments: cash, EFTPOS, online transfer, credit card and cheques.

Using the Internet or phone to pay your bills can mean a lot less running around for you. Unfortunately, not all companies accept these payment methods. The person who services your car, for instance, may only accept cash.

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Credit cards and cheques

You can pay a bill through the mail with a cheque or a credit card. An advantage is you don't need to stand in any queues. A disadvantage is it takes a while for your payment to get there, and if you use cheques, the fees are generally higher. With a credit card you can also pay bills online or over the phone using bill payment services like BPAY or POSTbillpay. You are generally required to be 18 years and over to obtain a credit card or cheque facility.

Note: If you don’t have enough money in your account to pay a cheque, the bank will ‘bounce’ the cheque – meaning that it will not honour it – and you will be charged a fee. However, if your account has an overdraft facility the cheque will be honoured.

Electronic transfer

Via internet and phone banking, you can easily transfer money from your bank account or credit card to the bank account of a company or individual. You can also arrange this by calling the call centre of the financial institution or over the counter at your bank.

Direct debit

Direct debit is another convenient way of paying bills. Once you have set up a direct debit (periodic payments) arrangement with your financial institution, amounts will be automatically taken from your account to pay regular bills, like health insurance. It saves you the hassle of having to manually pay the bill each time, or remember when the bills are due. You just need to ensure that you have enough money in your account to cover the deductions, otherwise they will not occur.

BPAY^®

A popular electronic bill payment service. Printed bills that feature the BPAY logo can be paid via phone or online using your credit card, or bank account. You can also choose to receive your bills online, rather than via the post. For more information visit BPAY’s website.

POSTbillpay

Australia Post’s bill payment service. It enables you to pay common household bills using your credit card or bank account online at www.postbillpay.com.au, by phone, or in person at any Australia Post outlet.

Over the counter

Paying a bill over the counter is sometimes the only way you can pay. The downside is you have to go to the biller's premises to make the payment. Some bills can also be paid over the counter of a financial institution, or at Australia Post outlets.

Online security

While online transactions can be enormously convenient, you also need to be aware of security issues. For example, fraudsters can send ‘spoofing’ emails that appear to be from the banks, requesting that the receiver provide their bank passwords.

Every bank publishes detailed information advising of the required security precautions you must adhere to when using their online services. Here, for example, is the Commonwealth Bank NetBank Security page.

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