Still don’t pay your bills online? With the ease, security, and guarantees of CheckFree, there is no reason to keep writing all those checks every month. I have been using online bill payment services through CheckFree for about four years now, and have been completely satisfied with their company and with their customer service.

About the Company:
Founded in 1981, CheckFree has been a staple in the finance business for years. They launched their electronic billing and payment system in 1997, and have since become the largest and most secure payment processor on the web. For me, I can find peace of mind knowing that this company is secure, and won’t be closing its doors anytime soon. Plus, peace of mind also comes from the fact that CheckFree is monitored by the same governmental agencies that watch over the SEC and the Federal Reserve.

About the Service:
CheckFree’s service is slightly different depending on where the service originates from. For example, if I use CheckFree with the link from my bank’s website, they will charge me for the service (I think it’s $10 per month). But, if I go directly to www.mycheckfree.com, the service is free to me. CheckFree gets their money directly from my billers. The only downside to this is that not every company can be paid for free this way. However, all of my creditors are included on their lengthy list, and CheckFree adds new companies all the time.

How Does it Work?
It’s simple. With CheckFree you can receive online statements (while still getting your paper statements in the mail) and pay your creditors through CheckFree’s secure website.

They will personalize the site for you and make it easy to see how much you owe and when a bill is due. You can even have reminders sent to your e-mail box letting you know when you have received new statements and/or reminding you that a bill will be due soon. Plus, you can schedule payments up to a year in advance. This is great if you already know how much you will pay to a particular vendor (i.e. car payment, etc.).

There is no limit to how many vendors you pay through your account, and you have the option of adding more than one bank account (checking or money market accounts) for the money to be electronically transferred from. You can also pay the vendors with your credit card if you would rather do so.

CheckFree takes two days to process payments. This means that if you schedule your payment on the due date (which is recommended), CheckFree will begin the process two days before the due date to assure that your payment is made on time. Up until the processing begins, you can cancel or edit your payment. After the processing begins, you cannot edit or cancel the payment. Note: You cannot schedule payments on weekends or holidays, CheckFree will automatically change the date to the previous weekday.

The Guarantee:
CheckFree guarantees that your payments will arrive to your vendors on time. According to the website, “ CheckFree will bear the responsibility for any late-payment-related charges (up to $50) should a payment arrive after its due date as long as you scheduled the transaction in accordance with the service’s terms and conditions.”

I have been using this service for a few years now, and I have only had to implement their guarantee one time. And, honestly, I think it was more of a problem with my vendor than with checkfree. Here is what happened:

I scheduled payment for the 2nd, but my payment wasn’t credited to my account until the 5th. A late charge of $29.00 was assessed to my account.

When I first contacted CheckFree, their first step was to have me authorize them to speak to my credit card company so they could try to get the fees waived. That attempt was unsuccessful.

Next, they required copies of my due dates, my scheduled dates through CheckFree, and my statements with the fees assessed. These could all be online printouts. I faxed them to their fax number and received payment shortly thereafter.

I would say that the entire process took about 30-45 days.

Other Notable Features:

CheckFree payment information can be exported to accounting programs you may use, such as Quicken or Microsoft Money. Detailed instructions are on the CheckFree website. However, this is not a feature that I use, so I don’t know very much about it.

CheckFree has a "status" page which lets you know which bills are scheduled, processing, and paid. It gives you the option of canceling or changing a payment up to the time it gets processed.

CheckFree also allows you to pay all your bills at once. Just check the box for every bill you'd like to pay, and it will take you through the options for each one (so you can edit amounts or dates). This saves a lot of time. I think it's a great feature.


The Bottom Line:
CheckFree makes it very easy to pay your bills. No stamps, no envelopes, no writing checks...just a few clicks of your mouse and you are set. The guarantee is excellent, and because the company has been around for years, its practically worry-free. I wouldn't pay my bills any other way.


Recommended: Yes