General Information | E-bills | Payments | Billers | Auto-Pay | Online Payments

	What is MyCheckFree.com?
	How does MyCheckFree.com work?
	How secure is my payment and personal information?
	How do I cancel my bill payment service?
	How do I change my personal information?
	Why do you need my Social Security Number?
	I have questions about how to use one of the features in MyCheckFree.com.

A: MyCheckFree.com is a service that lets you receive and pay your bills online in one convenient location, and to pay for purchases at online sites. You can make payments from a bank account, such as a checking account, money market account, or brokerage account. No matter what payment method you use, your payment information is protected and your payments are guaranteed.

A: There are two basic steps involved in using MyCheckFree.com to pay your bills:

1. Add your E-bills.
2. Schedule your payments.

When you first begin using the service, you must set up your e-bills list by adding the bills that you want to pay. After you set them up, all of your billers are listed on the E-bills page so you can quickly pay your bills.

When you make a payment, you specify the payment amount and the date that you want the biller to receive the payment. After a payment is scheduled, it appears as Scheduled on the Payment Activity page. After the payment is processed, the status changes to Processed. Any biller you pay receives your payment on the payment date. However, some billers may take a few days to credit your account.

To use MyCheckFree.com to make a purchase at an online site, just click the CheckFree button on the page where you choose your payment method.

A: MyCheckFree.com uses several methods to ensure that your information is secure:

• Sign-in ID and Password: Your sign-in ID and password are unique identifiers that only you know. As long as you don't share your ID and password with anyone, no one can sign in to MyCheckFree.com as you.
• SSL: MyCheckFree.com uses SSL (secure sockets layer) which ensures that your connection and information are secure from outside inspection.
• Encryption: MyCheckFree.com uses 40-bit or 128-bit encryption (whichever your browser supports) to make your information unreadable as it passes over the Internet.
• Automatic Sign Out: MyCheckFree.com automatically signs you out of a session if you are inactive for a predefined number of minutes (usually about ten minutes). It is best if you sign out immediately after you finish scheduling your payments.

A: Go to MyCheckFree Profile and click the My Service folder. On the My Service page, click Cancel Service at the bottom of the page. Before you cancel your service, keep in mind the following:

• You will no longer be able to make online payments using MyCheckFree as your payment option.
• Scheduled payments, including automatic payments, will not be paid.
• Any payments that are in process when you cancel your service will be paid.
• You no longer have access to your payment activity, and you can no longer send payment inquiries. You should print a copy of the Payment Activity page to keep for your records before you cancel your service.
• Wait until all of your payments that are in process are paid. If you don't wait, you will not be able to view or to make inquiries about your payments.
• After you cancel your service, your billers are notified to stop sending e-bills. It can sometimes take a few days for billers to process these requests. Until you begin receiving paper statements again, you should contact each biller directly about your payment amount and payment due date. Because you cannot send your payments using MyCheckFree.com after you cancel your service, you should pay your billers by some other means, such as mailing a check.
• If you decide to use MyCheckFree.com again, you will have to sign up and set up your biller accounts.

A: It's important to keep your personal information up to date so that we can contact you if necessary. You can review your personal information on the Personal Information page in MyCheckFree Profile. Click Change in the section that contains the information you want to change.

Note
You cannot make any changes to your personal information for seven days after you sign up. This is to protect your privacy and to help guard against identity theft.

A: We use this information to help verify your identity and to ensure that your payment account information is as secure and accurate as it can be.

A: MyCheckFree.com can help answer questions about how to use the service as follows:

• Click Help on the MyCheckFree.com navigation bar to open help for MyCheckFree.com.
• Click Help me with this page... to open help for a specific page.

A: An e-bill (electronic bill) is an online version of a paper statement that you can view through MyCheckFree.com. An e-bill usually contains the same information as a paper statement that is mailed to you.

A: You can receive e-bills from any of the billers in our list of local and national billers. After you request e-bills from a biller and the request is processed, you receive a message letting you know that your e-bill service has been activated. An e-bill service request is usually processed within two billing cycles. New e-bills appear on the E-bills page.

You can pay one or more e-bills on the E-bills page. As with all MyCheckFree.com payments, you control the payment amount, payment date, and the account the payment is withdrawn from.

A: It may take one to two billing cycles for a biller to process your request for e-bill service and for you to receive your first e-bill. After your first e-bill arrives, your e-bills should arrive on a regular schedule just like a bill that was mailed to you.

A: When you sign up to receive e-bills, billers ask for information they must have to send and process e-bills for your account. Some billers require more information than others, and this information may include your sign-in information for the biller's Web site.

A: It depends on the biller. Some billers stop sending a paper statement and only send an e-bill to your MyCheckFree.com account. Other billers continue to send paper statements through the U.S. mail in addition to an e-bill to MyCheckFree.com and an e-bill summary to your e-mail address.

You can review the biller's terms and conditions for e-bill service when you add the biller to your personal list of e-bill accounts. The terms and conditions provide information about your paper statements.

A: You can view all of your filed and paid e-bills from the E-bills page. Filed and paid e-bills are available online for 180 days (6 months). You can use your browser's print feature to print the bill if you want to keep long-term records.

A: Yes, you can add several e-bills for the same biller as long as you have different biller account numbers. For example, if your phone company provides your home phone service and your cellular phone service, you can add the two e-bills for the same phone company by typing a different account number each time.

A: When you delete a biller account in MyCheckFree.com, we cancel your e-bill service for that account and notify the biller to stop sending e-bills. You can no longer pay any unpaid e-bills listed on the E-bills page for the deleted account, so you may want to pay unpaid e-bills before deleting the account.

It is possible, based on your billing cycle, that you could receive an e-bill after you've deleted a biller account. (You'll see the e-bill on the E-bills page, or receive the e-bill summary at your e-mail address.) If this happens, make sure to pay your bill by some other means, such as sending the biller a check.

A: To stop receiving e-bills from a biller, you must delete the biller's account in MyCheckFree.com. After you delete the account, the biller is notified to stop sending e-bills.

It is possible, based on your billing cycle, that you could receive an e-bill after you've deleted a biller account. (You'll see the e-bill on the E-bills page, or receive the e-bill summary at your e-mail address.) If this happens, make sure to pay your bill by some other means, such as sending the biller a check.

A: Some account changes can be made from the E-bills page of MyCheckFree.com. Click View/Change next to the name of the biller whose information you want to change. To change your account number or the biller's ZIP Code, you must delete the biller account and re-add it with the correct information.

A: If your normal billing cycle has passed and you still have not received your e-bill, contact your biller. Billers deliver e-bills much like they deliver your paper statements. Depending on billing cycles, the exact day you receive your bill each month may vary. Also remember that it can take at least one billing cycle before you receive your first e-bill from a biller.

If you have questions about an e-bill, please contact the biller directly. All the information on the e-bill comes directly from the biller, the same as a paper statement. When you pay the e-bill, you can change the payment amount.

If an e-bill amount is incorrect, make sure to contact the biller to avoid any late charges.

A: As part of our continuing commitment to provide reliable, timely e-bill delivery and payment service, we made the decision to discontinue e-bill service within MyCheckFree.com for certain billers effective January 30, 2007. If you want to pay a biller that is no longer available in MyCheckFree.com, click the following link, select the alternative payment site that best fits your needs, and then sign up to pay your biller. A list of alternative bill payment sites.

Note
Any payments with a status of Scheduled, even those made to discontinued billers, will still be processed.

A: The first thing that you should is check your Messages Inbox for any information the biller might have sent regarding the reason that your account is no longer active.

You can request e-bills again by going to the Add E-bills page and adding your account information. Sometimes a biller stops e-bill delivery if your account information is not current. Adding the account again with your most recent information usually corrects the problem.

If you are unable to activate your e-bill account, please contact the biller directly about why your account is no longer active.

Note
If you have an unpaid e-bill on the E-bills page, you can pay it using MyCheckFree.com, but you cannot make any more payments to the biller until your e-bill account is active. Any payments with a status of Scheduled will be processed.

A: Because you changed your sign-in information with the biller, you'll need to update the same information in MyCheckFree.com. Go to the E-bills page and click View/Change next to the biller account that was updated. Change the biller sign-in information in MyCheckFree.com to match the information at the biller's Web site.

A: Go to the biller's Web site and follow the procedures to get your password. Then, come back to MyCheckFree.com and go to the E-bills page. Click View/Change next to the biller account that the password is for and change the biller password.

A: Sometimes the biller may not credit your account immediately after receiving a payment. If the payment is not credited in a reasonable amount of time, take the following steps to resolve the problem:

1. Wait five days after the scheduled payment date to see if the biller credits the payment to your account.
2. If the payment is not posted to your account, call the biller's customer service department to see if they received the payment and credited your account.
3. When you call, gather the following information from the biller:
   • The name of the person who assisted you with your payment question.
   • The phone number you called to contact the biller.
   • The date you called the biller to inquire about your payment.
   • The amount of any late fees or finance charges assessed.
4. If you've received a late fee but scheduled your payment on time, ask the biller to waive any late fees or finance charges.
5. If the payment is not credited to your account or if the biller won't waive late fees, find the payment on the Payment Activity page. Click View to open the View Payment page. Then, click Inquire about this payment... to send us a message that includes the information you gathered from the biller.

A: If you've received a late fee or finance charge for a late payment that you scheduled on time, follow these steps:

1. Call the biller's customer service department.
2. When you call, gather the following information:
   • The name of the person who assisted you with your payment question.
   • The phone number you called to contact the biller.
   • The date you called the biller to inquire about the late fees.
   • The amount of any late fees or finance charges assessed.
3. Ask the biller to waive any fees or finance charges.
4. If the biller won't waive the fees or charges, find the payment on the Payment Activity page. Click View to open the View Payment page. Then, click Inquire about this payment... to send us a message that includes the information you gathered from the biller.

A: After the payment date, you can view details about the payment on the Payment Activity page. If the payment's status is Processed, then the payment has been sent. You can also check your bank account to see if the payment has been withdrawn. For example, check your next statement for the withdrawal. Or you can call the biller to see if they received and credited your payment. Sometimes it may take the biller a few days to credit your account.

A: You can cancel a bank account payment that you've scheduled if the payment hasn't been processed yet. Go to the Payment Activity page and click Cancel next to the payment that you want to cancel.
Note: You can only cancel payments with a status of Scheduled.

A: You can change a payment that you've scheduled if the payment hasn't been processed yet. Go to the Payment Activity page and click View/Change next to the payment that you want to change. Make changes to the amount or the payment date as necessary.

Note: You can only change payments with a status of Scheduled.

A: Look for the payment on the Payment Activity page. The following list describes the statuses:

• Scheduled indicates that the payment is set up to be sent to the biller in the future.
• In Process indicates that the payment is now being processed and cannot be changed or canceled.
• Processed indicates that the payment date has arrived. Normally, the biller receives the payment on the payment date and credits your account. Sometimes, however, it may take a few days for the biller to credit your account.
• Canceled indicates that you canceled the scheduled payment.
• Failed indicates that the payment was returned either because there was a problem when the payment was withdrawn from your bank account, such as a closed account or insufficient funds, or because the biller account information sent with your payment was not enough for the biller to properly credit your account.

A: Your account could have been temporarily suspended for a variety of reasons, such as your bank account was closed or your bank account could not be charged for your payment.
To reactivate your account, call the Collections Department phone number in the e-mail message or letter mailed to you regarding your account suspension.

A: As part of our continuing commitment to provide reliable, timely e-bill delivery and payment service, we made the decision to discontinue e-bill service within MyCheckFree.com for certain billers effective January 30, 2007. If you want to pay a biller that is no longer available in MyCheckFree.com, click the following link, select the alternative payment site that best fits your needs, and then sign up to pay your biller. A list of alternative bill payment sites.

Note
Any payments with a status of Scheduled, even those made to discontinued billers, will still be processed.

A: The first thing that you should is check your Messages Inbox for any information the biller might have sent regarding the reason that your account is no longer active.

You can request e-bills again by going to the Add E-bills page and adding your account information. Sometimes a biller stops e-bill delivery if your account information is not current. Adding the account again with your most recent information usually corrects the problem.

If you are unable to activate your e-bill account, please contact the biller directly about why your account is no longer active.

Note
If you have an unpaid e-bill on the E-bills page, you can pay it using MyCheckFree.com, but you cannot make any more payments to the biller until your e-bill account is active. Any payments with a status of Scheduled will be processed.

A: After you sign up or add a new bank account from MyCheckFree.com, we send two small deposits and one withdrawal to your account. (The withdrawal is the sum of the two deposits.) The deposits and withdrawal appear on your monthly statement from your financial institution (either online or mailed to you) with MyCheckFree.com AcctConfrm in the description.

When your account confirmation deposits and withdrawal appear on your monthly statement, go to the Payment Account Information page and click Confirm next to the bank account you want to confirm. On the Bank Account Confirmation page, type the deposit amounts in the appropriate boxes. If the deposit amounts you type match the deposit amounts in our records, then your account is confirmed.

Note
If you wait longer than 45 days to confirm your bank account, you can't send any payments from the account until you confirm it. If you exceed the number of attempts you have to confirm your account or there is a problem when we try to send money to your financial institution to confirm your account, you must print and mail us a form. To go to the form you can print and mail, click Contact Us next to the bank account you want to confirm.

You can only have one unconfirmed account at a time. This includes any bank accounts with a status of Confirmation Locked, Confirmation Failed, or Expired. After you reach the total allowed within a 12-month period, we no longer allow you to add bank accounts without first confirming an existing account.

A: If you made a mistake when typing the account number, the routing transit number, or account type, add the bank account again using the correct information and confirm it. After the new account is confirmed, delete the account with the incorrect information.

A: Keep in mind that it can take up to a month for the bank account confirmation deposits and withdrawal to appear on your monthly statement. The account confirmation deposits and withdrawal are identified with AcctConfrm in the transaction description.

Some other ways that you can get this information are to check your account statement online or to call your financial institution and ask for the account confirmation deposit amounts.

If your financial institution has no record of the account confirmation deposits and withdrawal, go to the Payment Activity page to locate the account that shows confirmation deposits. Check this account number against the account number shown on your monthly statement or online statement. If the account numbers don't match, you can either confirm the bank account listed on the Payment Activity page or correct the bank account number.

To make the correction, add a new bank account with the correct account number on the Payment Account Information page. After adding the new bank account, be sure to delete the incorrect account on the Payment Account Information page.

A: You can make payments from an unconfirmed bank account for the amount due on your bill, as long as the payment doesn't exceed the cumulative limit we set for an unconfirmed bank account. If the payment amount does exceed the cumulative limit for an unconfirmed bank account, we display a message telling you what to do to make the payment. You can confirm the account on the Payment Account Information page. After you confirm a bank account, your payment limits are re-evaluated and you can use all the features of MyCheckFree.com.

A: To change an unconfirmed bank account, you must add a new bank account with the correct information on the Payment Account Information page. After the new bank account with the correct information is confirmed, delete the incorrect bank account.

A: This is for your protection in case someone is using your bank account without your authorization. When you confirm your account using information that only you or someone you authorize to use your account can know, then we re-evaluate your payment limits.

A: For bank account payments, MyCheckFree.com determines if the payment will be made electronically or by check based on whether the biller accepts electronic payments and other guidelines. For example, some billers cannot receive electronic payments, so a check is printed and sent to the biller. Whether a payment is made electronically or by check, the payment is processed to reach the biller on time.

A: Yes, you can make payments from more than one bank account, such as a checking account, money market account, or brokerage account. The account number you select when making a payment is the account your payments are withdrawn from.

To add a new payment account, go to My Payment Accounts in My Profile and click Add Bank Account.

A: You don't need to do anything with your bill statement; billers do not need that portion of your statement. All of the information you provide when adding the biller and scheduling payments is sufficient for the biller. If you want to, you can keep the statement for your own records.

A: When you receive your bank account statement, the payments made through MyCheckFree.com usually appear as electronic withdrawals (similar to ATM withdrawals) even if MyCheckFree.com sends a paper check to the biller.

A: Some billers let you select a payment date as early as today (if today is a business day). Billers usually set a cutoff time for these payments and charge a fee for quick processing. Use the following list as a guide when you are selecting a payment date for a bank account:

• If you schedule your payment before 5:00 P.M. ET today, the earliest available payment date is the next business day. For example, if you schedule a payment on Monday before 5:00 P.M. ET, the earliest available payment date is Tuesday. If you schedule a payment on Friday before 5:00 P.M. ET, the earliest available payment date is the following Monday.
• If you schedule your payment after 5:00 P.M. ET, the earliest available payment date is two business days from the current date. For example, if you schedule a payment on Monday after 5:00 P.M. ET, the earliest available payment date is Wednesday. If you schedule a payment on Friday after 5:00 P.M. ET, the earliest available payment date is the following Tuesday.

A: It is always best to schedule the payment to arrive a couple of days before the due date. This ensures that the biller has plenty of time to apply the payment to your account.

If you are making the payment from a bank account, keep the following points in mind about when the payment is actually sent to the biller:

For payments made from bank accounts

• If you enter your payment before 5:00 P.M. ET today, the earliest available payment date is the next business day. For example, if you schedule a payment on Monday before 5:00 P.M. ET, the earliest available payment date is Tuesday. If you schedule a payment on Friday before 5:00 P.M. ET, the earliest available payment date is the following Monday.
• If you enter your payment after 5:00 P.M. ET, the earliest available payment date is two business days from the current date. For example, if you schedule a payment on Monday after 5:00 P.M. ET, the earliest available payment date is Wednesday. If you schedule a payment on Friday after 5:00 P.M. ET, the earliest available payment date is the following Tuesday.

A: If you make a payment using your bank account, the payment is withdrawn from your account on the payment date.

A: The biller should receive the payment on the scheduled payment date.

Note
It may take the biller a little longer to credit the payment to your account.

A: When you schedule a payment to be paid from a bank account, we look at your payment to determine how it should be processed. For example, we check to see if the biller can accept an electronic payment or if the payment should be sent as a check. After we determine how to process the payment, you cannot make changes to it. The biller will receive the payment on the scheduled payment date.

A: Auto-Pay is an optional feature that enables you to pay some e-bills automatically. See the FAQs About Auto-Pay section for more information.

A: The payment information you export must meet the following conditions:

• The payments must be related to single bank account. If you've made payments using multiple bank accounts, you must select one account in the Payment Activity Search section and click Search to display the payments for that account. You can create several import files that contain the payment information for each bank account you made payments from.
or service you make payments to. Billers can be any entity who you would send money to, such as your phone or credit card company.

A: All the local and national billers you can pay are listed on the Select your E-bills page. At the bottom of the page is a link you can click to suggest more billers that you would like to see added to the list of available billers. Suggesting a biller helps to encourage that biller to join the network.

A: No, you do not need to contact your billers if you use this service. We send each of your payments with all the necessary account information so that billers are able to credit your account appropriately.

A: If you are currently receiving e-bills and no corresponding paper statement from a biller, you can start receiving paper statements again by deleting your biller account information. Go to your E-bills page and click Delete next to the account information you want to delete. When you delete a biller account, you cancel your e-bill service for that account and can no longer receive and pay e-bills unless you add the biller again.

A: When you agree to the biller's Terms and Conditions for receiving e-bills, depending on the biller, you might stop receiving paper statements in the mail. It can sometimes take up to a month to stop receiving paper statements, depending on the biller's billing cycle for your account.

We will notify you electronically when you have an e-bill, either by sending a message to your e-mail address or by displaying a message when you sign in to MyCheckFree.com.

After you receive notification that you have a new e-bill, you can pay the e-bill through MyCheckFree.com, which saves you time and money and helps the environment by eliminating paper statements.

A: Auto-Pay is an optional feature that allows you to automatically pay e-bills after you've started receiving them for a specific biller account.

If your biller offers Auto-Pay, you must set up a bank account in MyCheckFree.com to make the payments from.

Set up the Auto-Pay options in your biller account information. Click View/Change on the Biller Account Information page for the biller you want to set up.

When you set up Auto-Pay, you can choose from the following options:

• Always pay the e-bill's amount due.
• Always pay the e-bill's minimum amount due.
• Always pay the full e-bill balance.
• Only pay e-bills less than or equal to a payment amount limit that you set.
• You can choose to have us send the payment in time for the biller to receive it by the due date, or you can choose to have us send the payment when the e-bill is received.

A: A biller must have a system capable of receiving automatic payments. MyCheckFree.com offers Auto-Pay for all billers who meet this requirement.

A: Click View/Change on the Biller Account Information page for the biller you want to set up. If your biller offers Auto-Pay, you must set up a bank account in MyCheckFree.com to make the payments from. You can only make Auto-Pay payments from a bank account

A: MyCheckFree.com does not automatically schedule the payment, and you receive an e-mail notifying you that the e-bill's minimum amount due exceeds the maximum amount automatically paid. You will need to make the payment on the E-bills page or by some other means. If you think that the amount due is incorrect, contact the biller.

A: Go to your E-bills page and click View/Change next to the biller account you want to change. In the Auto-Pay section, type a new amount in the Only pay e-bills less than or equal to this amount box and click Save Changes. Your changes are effective immediately.

A: If a biller sends an e-bill late and the actual due date on the bill is before the earliest available payment date (remember MyCheckFree.com needs a couple of days to process payments), Auto-Pay schedules the payment for the earliest possible payment date. Please contact your biller if an e-bill arrives late and you are charged a late fee.

A: Check the Payment Activity page to see if the status of the payment is Processed. If the status is Processed, then the payment has been sent. You can also contact your financial institution or check your monthly statement to see if the payment has been withdrawn from your payment account.

If the payment status is Processed on the Payment Activity page and the biller still hasn't received your payment, click View next to the payment to open the View Payment page. Then, click Inquire about this payment to send us a message.

A: If the status of the payment is In Process or Processed, you cannot cancel the payment.

A: If the payment status is In Process or Processed, you cannot change the payment.

A: Look for the payment on the Payment Activity page. The following list describes the statuses:

• Scheduled indicates that the payment is set up to be sent to the biller in the future.
• In Process indicates that the payment is now being processed and cannot be changed or canceled.
• Processed indicates that the payment date has arrived. Normally, the biller receives the payment on the payment date and credits your account. Sometimes, however, it may take a few days for the biller to credit your account.
• Canceled indicates that you canceled the scheduled payment.
• Failed indicates that the payment was returned either because there was a problem when the payment was withdrawn from your bank account, such as a closed account or insufficient funds, or because the biller account information sent with your payment was not enough for the biller to properly credit your account.

A: If you want to return an item that you bought at an online retail Web site, either follow the return procedure listed at the retail Web site or follow the return procedure included in the package that the retailer sent to you. MyCheckFree.com can't be used to process any returns for a retail Web site.

For items purchased elsewhere, please contact the seller directly and follow their return procedure. MyCheckFree.com can't be used to process any online returns.

A: If for some reason your retailer sent your payment back, you can see the payment on the Payment Activity page. Click View next to the payment to see the details of the refund, such as when the payment was sent to your financial institution for deposit into your account.

A: The funds for an online payment are withdrawn on the date the payment is initiated.

A: When you use MyCheckFree.com to make a purchase at a retail Web site, we withdraw the payment from the account you designated as your preferred account on the Payment Accounts page in the My Profile section. If you have no preferred account selected, we will choose a payment account based on your activity within MyCheckFree.com.

Note:
To add a new payment account, go to My Payment Accounts in My Profile and click either Add Bank Account .

A: When you receive your bank account statement, the payments made through MyCheckFree.com usually appear as electronic withdrawals (similar to ATM withdrawals).