Regardless of what industry your business is in, paying your bills is one of the most important things you have to do to be successful. Besides making money from your products and services, covering the cost of rent, heat, and electricity, and having all your equipment, supplies and inventory is essential.
Although covering bills is so vital to keeping the lights on — literally and figuratively, bill payments can be tough when you have so many. Without a solid bill payment system in place, payments can be missed, and it can take up time that could be used to take care of other things.
With that said, one of the best ways to manage all your bills and pay them quickly and efficiently is by using online bill payment platforms. Now, more and more financial institutions are offering online bill payment options designed for businesses to help take care of payments automatically and without worry.
What is online bill pay?
Instead of paying all your bills on different websites or mailing checks to different locations, online bill payment is a great way to manage all your bills from one place from the convenience of a laptop, phone, or tablet. With online bill payments, you can connect your bills from one place and set up a payment schedule for each bill, set up auto payments, and even pay some of your expenses using a credit card so you can get rewards or points for your bill payments.
When you set up online bill payments, you are then able to send money from electronic wire transfers, or you can also send checks to vendors and payees if they do not accept ACH (Automated Clearing House network) or wire transfers.
How do online bill payments work?
So let’s say you have a restaurant, and you want to pay all of your bills online. The first thing you will do is sign up for a business checking account. Be sure to find one that does not have any monthly or overdraft fees and allows you to make payments for free.
Once you have a checking account, you can add bills from vendors and providers you use. So as a restaurant, you can set up bill payments for your rent, utilities, food supplies, etc.
Next, choose how you’ll pay your vendors. Many bill pay services let you pay from your business checking account, an external account, or even from your credit card. After you pick a payment source, you can have your payment delivered via wire, ACH transfer, or check.
The beautiful thing about online bill pay platforms is that you can handle all your payments from one convenient location. You can also set up automatic recurring payments so you never miss a bill.
Why use online bill pay?
- It’s convenient. Having one place for all your bill payments can make your life easier, save you time, and help you avoid missed payments. Also, it helps you stay organized since all your payments are made from one location.
- It improves payment history. If you decide to pay for some of your bills with a credit card, this can help you improve your business credit score and set you up for better rates on future business loans. About 35% of your credit score is determined by payment history, so the more payments you make on time and pay off, the better position you’ll be in.
It’s safe and secure. Now you can rest easy knowing your payments are protected and insured, and that every check payment you send is protected from fraud.
