[How Bill Payment Works]
Citizens National Bank's Bill Payment service allows customers to pay bills electronically from their checking account using our Citizens OnLine Banking service.You will enter your payee information through Citizens OnLine. You can schedule payments for today, a future date, or set up recurring payments to be automatically deducted from your checking account.You should normally schedule payments at least 5 business days prior to the due date to assure timely payment.Funds are deducted from your checking account on the date the payment is scheduled to be sent to the payee.
Each payment will be itemized on your monthly checking account statement.
Your bills will be paid either through Automated Clearing House (ACH), or a paper check will be produced. National payees such as Discover or AT&T, will be paid through ACH, while smaller companies and individuals will be mailed a paper check.
Setting Up Payees | Scheduling Payments | Changing or Canceling Payments | Fees
Eligibility
- Bill Payment Service is available to both consumer and business customers.
- Customer must have a CNB checking account. (Any type of checking account qualifies.)
- Bills cannot be paid from a savings or money market fund account, nor can they be advanced from a loan.
- Since bills are scheduled through OnLine Banking, the customer must be a registered user of Citizens OnLine Banking.
Setting Up Payees
- Any business or individual with a mailing address can be paid through the Bill Payment Service.
- Payment of taxes or court-directed payments are prohibited. Bill payments can only be made to payees within the United States.
- Payee information should be entered exactly as it appears on the billing statement. Incorrect information may cause payment delays.
- Payment stubs are not sent to the payee. Account information (i.e. account number) is provided with all payments to assure the proper crediting of the customer's account.
- The customer will not need to contact their payees to inform them that they're using CNB's Bill Payment Service since all necessary information appears on the check.
Scheduling Payments
- Customers may enter payment information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Payments should be scheduled on a "Business Day" (Monday through Friday, excluding bank holidays). While the service will allow a non-business day (such as a weekend or holiday) to be selected, if a payment falls on a non-business day the transaction will be processed on the next business day.
- The "cut-off" time for each business day is 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Customers should schedule payments at least 5 business days in advance of the due date. Business day example: If a bill is due on Monday, August 14, the payment should be scheduled no later than Monday, August 7. Weekends and bank holidays must be taken into consideration when scheduling payments.
- Recurring payments have the same amount due each time and occur on a regular basis. Payments for recurring bills may be set up with a "Payment Frequency" of monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, annually, weekly, bi-weekly or bi-monthly. Examples of recurring payments are car, rent and mortgage payments. (Note: If the "Number of Remaining Payments" field is not completed, a recurring payment will continue until it is cancelled or deleted.)
- If a recurring payment is scheduled to be made on the 29th, 30th or 31st of a month that does not have such a date (for example, February), the transaction will be made on the last business day of that month.
- Non-recurring payments are payments that vary in amount and require the customer to enter the amount and payment date each time a payment is to be made. Examples are phone, electric and credit card payments. The "Payment Frequency" of "On Demand" should be chosen for "non-recurring" payments. If the "Payment Frequency" is "On Demand", leave the "Number of Remaining Payments" blank.
- Each required field must be completed for the payment to be accepted. A "Payment Confirmation", which includes a confirmation number, is shown when payment information is submitted.
- If there are insufficient funds in the checking account, the bill will not be paid. However, the computer will attempt to complete the transaction each day until funds become available. Because a bill payment order will not overdraw an account, checking accounts tied to an Overdraft Protection plan, Home Equity Credit Line, or other lines of credit, will not have funds automatically advanced to cover a deficiency. Customers should manually transfer the funds to their checking account or arrange to have the funds transferred by a bank employee.
Changing or Cancelling Payments
- Any payment may be changed or cancelled by the customer up until 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on the business day of the scheduled payment date.
- If the "cut-off" time has passed, the customer may contact our Bookkeeping Department to order a stop payment. A $30.00 fee per item will apply. (Please note that the window of time is very short because payments are processed quickly.)
- If you require further assistance, you may contact Citizens National Bank's Bookkeeping Department at 419-358-8060 during normal business hours.
