I decided to test this out since I had to pay my cable bill.

I set it up yesterday to send X amount to my ISP today. I logged into my ISP today to see that bill payment had not been credited.

I am new to this.


Should I give it a day or two?

I do all my regular monthly bills through bill pay on my banks internet banking web site.
I input who to pay, how much and on what date and never have any problems.
My bank (SunTrust) usually will not make a payment next day without charging a fee. It usually requires at least two business days to make a payment without incurring a charge.
I have never checked with the company's that I am making payment to see exactly when they receive it. They may not update their web site to reflect payment received for a few days.
On a few occasions I have been short on time and wanted to make a payment that day and in those cases I will go directly to the company's website and pay with a credit card.






Edited to ad: My bank guarantees that payment will be made in time as long as I set it up correctly.






 

 

My bank guarantees it will get paid on or before the day you select.  Having said that I always pay it 5 days in advance.

Never had a problem.

Having said that I use my credit card to pay most of my bills automatically.  It earns me points etc...

See what the terms of service include, sometimes its 5 business days (billpay) to cut a paper check.

If they can make the payment electronically they will send it via something like an ACH. If they don't have the info to make an ACH they will send it via check in the mail.

It takes 2-4 business days for regular. My bank charges $10.95 to do a same day bill pay.

Are you referring to online bill pay set up with your bank?

If so, the first payment usually takes a couple days.  If the bank has a relationship with the vendor, subsequent payments may credit in a single day and be done entirely over the wire instead of them sending a physical check on your behalf.  My cable, utility, and phone bills all process within a day using my bank.

they usually take 2-3 business days for me.



You're doing the smart thing by using your banks online bill pay.  That way you control who gets your money.  Never sign up for autopay or something where a utility swipes the money out of your account.  They're easy to set up, hard to cancel.

This. Very important. Especially if they make a mistake and pull too much out of your account. You have to go to them to get your money back. Not to mention if you get over drawn and can't make other payments.

not really

I don't understand why people still use bill pay through their banks. A lot of times the bank charge for it, and it takes several days to get credit for the payment.

All my bills are paid either by entering my CC number or bank account number in the actual bill's online payment system. Verizon, comcast, electric company, gas company all have online payment systems that credit your account instantly. Most of them even take credit cards without charging any fees so you can earn cash back rewards on your card. You are using a cash back credit card, right?

Why are banks gung ho to provide this service? Seems to me like it would be a pain in the ass for them. My bank doesn't charge anything to do it and they require at least one bill pay through their system in order to qualify for their rewards program which earns you a higher interest rate on your deposits. I only use it for my electric bill to satisfy their requirement. Everything else I pay direct on each companies web site.

I use online bill pay for most everything.  It's free with my package. Paper checks cost me nothing from bill pay. I don't have to buy stamps, or envelopes. Cancellations are free. There is a tracking number for everything. I have it all set up but for a couple bills that change a bit. I can change at any time on my phone, online, at the bank, or via telephone.  I have only had 2 or 3 payments not get paid, and they were the paper checks that were cancelled and re issued immediately. What's not to like?

And it does take a couple days depending on what and where I goes. Same or next day will charge an extra fee.

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The more that you have set up the more likely it is you will stay with them. If you have nothing set up then you could get set up wi th another bank in 10 minutes. If you have a lot set up it could take a few hours. People are less likely to switch.