Business Bill Pay

Q: What is Online Bill Pay?
A: It’s a service from Farmers Trust & Savings Bank that streamlines the back-office functions of your small business and allows you to  make payments to virtually any individual or company through your online banking account.

Q: Why is Online Bill Pay better than personal bill pay?
A: Online Bill Pay was designed specifically to meet the needs of today’s small businesses. In addition to making payments, you can  run customized reports,  delegate tasks and  set permission controls. It all adds up to give you more resources you need and more time to focus on your business.

Q: Who can I pay with Online Bill Pay?
A: You can pay virtually any business or individual with a mailing address within the United States and Puerto Rico. Examples include utilities, office supply bills, consultants or independent contractors.  

Q: How are online payments delivered?
A: Most payments are delivered electronically. Your payment information, such as your account number, is sent via secure transmission. All other payments are made by paper checks mailed via the U.S. Postal Service.

Q: Is Online Bill Pay secure?
A: It’s one of the safest ways for your business to pay bills. Online Bill Pay helps guard against identity theft from lost or stolen checkbooks, bills and statements. It also increases privacy because only you can access your account information, account numbers and payment history.  

Q: How long does it take before a payment is received?
A: Generally, your payment is received within two to seven days, depending on whether it is sent electronically or via paper check.

• Pay your business’s bills and view payment activity anytime, anywhere
• Delegate the payment responsibilities you want to
• Set permission controls so you maintain the final say
• Quickly run customized reports with the information your business needs
• Reduce your paperwork and bookkeeping
• Maintain more control over cash flow
• Increase your security over mailing checks

Q: How do I start using Online Bill Pay? 
A: You can set up payees and start making payments in a few easy steps:

1. Go to the “Payees” tab
2. Click “Add a Payee”
3. Choose to add a company or individual
4. Complete form by providing requested information about payee and click “submit payee“
5. Then click “schedule a payment to this payee”

Making bill payments
Q: Does Online Bill Pay have Quicken/QuickBooks integration?
A: Yes. You can import payees from Quicken or QuickBooks directly into your Online Bill Pay account.

Q: Can I set up recurring payments?
A: Online Bill Pay allows you to set up recurring payments for bills that are consistent every month. Examples include insurance payments, contractual payments or your office lease.  

Q: Can I pay multiple invoices at once?
A: Absolutely. With extended remittance you can send a single payment for multiple invoices from a single vendor.

Delegating tasks and setting permission controls

Q: What kinds of payment responsibilities can I delegate?
A: You can delegate the payment responsibilities you want, such as paying utilities and suppliers, running reports or accessing payment history.  

Q: What kind of permission controls can I set?
A: Specify who can make payments, which payments they can make and the maximum payment amount. You can also set up final approvals so you give the go-ahead before any payments are made.  

Customized reporting
Q: What kind of customized reports can I run?
A: You can run reports that allow you to:

• Have the audit information you need
• Review your spending
• View the payment activity of your authorized users

Q: How can I use the account-to-account transfer feature?
A: This feature allows your small business to transfer money from different accounts. These can be set up as a one-time single transfer or recurring transfers. You can also move funds back and forth between your personal and business accounts to help facilitate operations.

Q: What are the major benefits of this feature?
A: Account-to-account transfers provide you with:

• Quick and flexible method for improving cash flow
• Anytime, anywhere transfer of funds
• Less expensive option than wire transfers

Q: How can I use the payroll automation feature?
A: You can automate your payroll and expense reimbursement, saving time, improving organization and enhancing control. That means no more manual calculations, spreadsheets or check-writing.

Q: What are the major benefits of this feature?
A: Payroll automation provides you with:

• Online access so you can handle payroll anytime, anywhere
• Payroll history that's automatically updated and stored for you
• Filter options that allow you to set salaried and hourly employee compensation parameters
• Reminder emails that help you stay on top of when payroll is due

Q: What is eBill?
A: eBill is a feature that allows you to receive and pay electronic summary versions of paper bills directly from your Online Bill Pay account.

Q: Will I still receive paper statements when I have eBill?
A: You will continue to receive paper statements from your payee unless you contact your payee to stop sending those statements.  

Q: How will I know if eBill is available for a payee?
A: There are two easy ways to determine if a payee offers eBill. You can check to see if there is a “Set up eBill” link next to their listing on your Online Bill Pay home page, or look for the “Sign Up” icon under their name in the “View Payees” section.

Q: What are the primary benefits of eBill?
A: With eBill, everything you need is in one convenient location. Using eBill allows you to streamline your bill pay routine and have online access to your bills. In addition, you can view past bill summaries at a glance.

Q: What information is included in an eBill?
A: Balance due, due date and minimum payment amount are included in your eBill. If you need additional details, there will be a link that lets you log in to your account on your payee's website.

Q: How do I pay an eBill?
A: To pay an eBill, simply choose the account you want to pay from, enter the amount you want to pay and schedule when you want the payment delivered.

Q: How do I know when I have received an eBill?
A: You can sign up to receive an email notice to alert you when an eBill has been delivered to your account.