Online Bill Pay Frequently Asked Questions Getting Started ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Useful Information | • | Pop up blocking software installed on your computer may prevent the Online Bill Pay window from appearing. Refer to the software's user manual on how to disable your pop up blocker or allow specific Web site pop up windows. | | • | To ensure that your payment is received in time, please schedule all electronic payments on business days only. Electronic payments scheduled on weekends and holidays may arrive late. | | • | Residents of foreign countries must have a U.S. residential address to use Bill Pay. APO/FPO addresses are considered USA residential addresses. | | • | To save time when adding a Payee, we recommend searching the database first for existing payee entries before entering new payee data. | | • | Enter Payee information in all uppercase letters. Refrain from using any special characters (examples: ",","-", "#", etc. Use 2-letter state abbreviations (TX = Texas). | | • | Payments can be scheduled in the amounts ranging from $.01 to $10,000. | | • | Payments can only be sent to locations within the Continental United States. | | • | Payments can not be sent to State, Federal or Local Government, Child Support, or Collection Agencies. | | • | Everyday at 12AM (midnight) PST, a back up of the QuickConnect Online system is performed. During this backup sequence, usually lasting only 10 minutes, the QuickConnect Online system, including Online Bill Pay, is unavailable. The backup process can take longer, depending on the daily transaction volume, which may result in the process being initiated sooner. Please be aware of these facts when accessing QuickConnect Online from 11PM - 12AM PST. |
Top How do I sign up for and access Online Bill Pay? Do I need a password?
Online Bill Pay is part of our QuickConnect Online Service, so there is no need to sign up. Once you log into QuickConnect Online, click the "Pay Bills" button. After accepting the Online Bill Pay terms and conditions you will be able access Online Bill Pay. Top Do I need a password to access Online Bill Pay? No. Online Bill Pay is integrated into QuickConnect Online. You will need a login for QuickConnect Online to access Online Bill Pay. Top How do I sign up for QuickConnect Online? How do I get a password to use QuickConnect Online?
If you have never used Quick Connect or QuickConnect Online you will need to obtain a password before you can access either system. Visit your local branch or contact USA Federal to obtain a password. For security reasons, we do not process password requests received via email. Top Transactions ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Can bills be paid from either checking or savings accounts?
No. Only a checking account can be used to pay bills online. Top If I close my USA Federal account, do I need to cancel Online Bill Pay?
Yes. If you close your account, you should cancel Online Bill Pay immediately to be certain that bill payments are longer processed. Once you cancel Online Bill Pay, all payee information will be removed and no further payments can be processed. Top Can I still request a stop payment on an Online Bill Pay transaction after the money has been deducted from my account?
No. You will need to directly contact the merchant/payee to handle a stop payment request. Top Can I delete a scheduled payment before the funds are transferred from my account?
Yes. Scheduled payments can only be deleted by deleting the entire payee. If a payee is deleted, it will need to be re-entered before a payment can be made. Remember, allow at least 15 business days for each initial payee verification before making your first payment. Top What do I put in the Ref/Account # field if I don't have an account number?
You can reference your name or a name that the Payee will be able to process the payment from. Top Whom can I pay? You can pay virtually anyone in the United States--from national bank cards, mortgage companies, auto loans, and department stores to the newspaper carrier. Payees that are not eligible for payment through this service include governmental agencies, including but not limited to, the Internal Revenue Service, all state and local tax authorities, collection agencies, as well as recipients of court-ordered payments like child support or alimony. However, payments to government agencies for utilities such as water are permitted. Also not eligible for payment are any organizations or individuals outside of the United States. What does it mean if a Payee is listed in the status column as "pending" on the Payees screen? After you have added a new payee, the payee may appear as "pending" for several days until the information you provided, such as address and account number, can be verified. Often the new Payee is identified and verified within seconds or minutes. In other cases, this process may take up to 3 business days. You will only see the "pending" status in the Payee list when the verification of a newly added Payee is in progress. Verifying the Payee information is critical to the Payment Guarantee. Top When can I schedule the first payment to a new Payee that I just set-up?
You may set-up a Payee and schedule the first payment in the same session. If the new Payee is verified immediately, you may schedule a payment according to standard payment guidelines and as a "today" payment that will be processed the next business day. Check the "Available" status displayed in the Payee list. If the new Payee is not verified immediately, you may still schedule a payment to the new Payee within the same session, however, the payment must be scheduled a minimum of 8 days in advance of the intended payment date or due date. The system will not allow you to schedule payments sooner than 3 business days from the session date until the Payee is verified and available. [This extra time for the first payment allows 3 days to verify the Payee and 5 days to process a check payment if applicable.] Once the Payee is verified and "Available", standard payment guidelines will apply to the new Payee. [See FAQ entitled "When are payments and transfers actually made?"] We encourage you to go back online into the bill payment service to check on the status of any payments you schedule to a "Pending" Payee. If for any reason the Payee information cannot be verified or is in some way incorrect, you will be notified via this online messaging service so that you may correct the Payee information and reschedule a new payment. Top How secure are my online payments and information?
Security begins with your browser session. To protect transactions, we only accept logins originating from a browser that supports the highest level of encryption (128-bit). Encryption prevents transactions from being read by unauthorized parties over the Internet. For more information about security, click here. Top How far into the future can a scheduled recurring payment or transfer be made for?
Recurring transfers and payments can be scheduled for up to 40 years from Today's date. After the recurring transfer or payment is scheduled, only the next transfer or payment in the recurring cycle will be displayed in Online Activity. Top When are payments and transfers actually processed?
Today payments scheduled prior to 12:00 midnight are debited from your account (deducted) the same day. They are processed and sent to the Payee (electronically or by check) the next business day Monday through Friday. Scheduled payments are debited on the same day as their send date, and processed either on the scheduled payment send date or on the next business day. If the send date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the payment will be processed (sent to the Payee electronically or by check) on the next business day. Payments to electronic merchants must be scheduled 2 business days before the payment due date. Payments to merchants who cannot accept electronic payments must be scheduled 5 business days prior to the due date. Please note: Payments scheduled as "Today" payments are sent out the following business day. Top What happens if I make payments before midnight but log off after midnight?
You must complete your transactions and log off prior to midnight for the transactions to be processed as Today payments that will be sent out the following business day. Example: You schedule a "Today" payment at 11:45 p.m. on a Thursday and log-off the banking and bill payment service at 11:52 p.m. Your payment will be sent out on Friday, the next business day. Top When are Transfers (between your accounts at our institution) completed? "Intra-bank" transfers, between your accounts at our institution, are executed the same day. The available balances are adjusted on both accounts the same day of the transfer. For example, the available balance in the "from" account is decremented and the available balance in the receiving account is incremented immediately. Top What happens if I have insufficient funds to cover a payment? This online service will confirm a today transaction only if you have sufficient funds in your funding account to cover it. Future-dated transactions are stored by the system, but the funds are not debited from your account until the scheduled transaction date. If a payment fails due to insufficient funds, an Online Bill Pay message will be sent and this service will automatically attempt to retry the payment on the next business day. If the payment is successful on the next business day, no further notification is sent. If the payment fails on the retry, a second Online Bill Pay message will be sent. Top What if my payment is late, and I am charged finance charges? If we tell you to schedule the payment 2 business days before the due date, and you scheduled the payment 3 business days before its due date and the payment was still late, then we will take the responsibility. On the other hand, if you did not schedule the payment the required number of business days before the due date, you will be responsible for any late fees. Be particularly aware of mortgage due dates and bank holidays. Top What happens if I schedule a payment that falls on a Saturday?
Payments scheduled on Saturday, Sunday or holidays will be debited on the same day as their send date, and processed next business day. The payment will be made on the next business day. Miscellaneous ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Do you offer the capability for organizing personal finances through Microsoft Money or Quicken?
Yes. There are several download options. Please review them once you have logged into Online Bill Pay. Top Why does my session time out? If your online session is inactive for six minutes (that is, if you have not submitted any transactions or clicked on any new pages), you will receive a pop-up message, warning that you will be logged off in two minutes if there is no further activity. Clicking "Continue" upon receiving the message will allow you to proceed with your Online Bill Pay activity and will refresh the system for another eight-minute cycle. After receiving the third consecutive inactivity warning, the system will automatically save any transactions you made and terminate the session. The online service is designed this way to provide you with maximum security in case you forget to log out. Top Do I get a receipt from each transaction? A reference number is displayed after you complete a transaction. This is your electronic receipt. The reference number is a record that transactions were accepted and will be processed, so you may record this number. Your statement will also include all of your online transactions. Print your statement for a paper receipt. Top Do I need an e-mail account to use the Message Center? No, you don't need an e-mail account to use Messages. Why do I lose statement information? Statement information is only stored and displayed for a limited time period. Top | 
