What is Bill Pay?
Bill Pay is a service that allows you to pay your bills online with Sterling Savings Bank. You can use Bill Pay to make payments to anyone in the United States that you would ordinarily pay by check or by automatic payment. You can even receive your billing statements online in the form of e-bills from participating companies.
How does Bill Pay work?
To make payments, you will simply add the billing information for those companies or individuals (billers) who you would like to pay online. When you are ready to send a payment, you will add the amount of the payment and the date you would like the payment to arrive at each biller, and that’s it! Your bill payment will be delivered to your biller by the date you specify.
How do I register for Bill Pay?
To register for Bill Pay, you must first have access to online banking through Sterling’s Net Banking service. If you would like to register for Personal Net Banking and Bill Pay together,
click here. If you currently have Personal or Small Business Net Banking, you can register for Bill Pay after you log into Net Banking by clicking the Bill Payment tab and following the registration instructions. To register for Business Net Banking Bill Pay please contact Sterling Central Customer Service at 1-800-650-7141.
How soon can I start paying bills?
If you are registering for Personal Net Banking or Small Business Net Banking and Bill Pay at the same time, your Bill Pay will be ready for use within 1-2 business days after your first login to Net Banking. If you already have Personal or Small Business Net Banking, your Bill Pay will be available within 1-2 business days after you register for the Bill Pay service.
If you register for Bill Pay within Business Net Banking, you will receive a confirmation code via U.S. Mail that must be entered to activate your Bill Payment service. The code is generated and mailed to your business 1-2 days after your registration is submitted.
Who can I pay using Bill Pay?
You can pay nearly anyone within the United States and its territories.
Which bills can’t I pay using Bill Pay?
You cannot pay bills to anyone outside of the United States or its territories. You should not use Bill Pay to send court-ordered payments, such as alimony and child support, or government payments, such as federal or state taxes.
Which browsers can be used to access Bill Pay?
We recommend that you use one of the following supported browsers:
- Internet Explorer 6.0 (Windows XP)
- Internet Explorer 7.0 (Windows XP)
- Firefox 2.0 (Windows XP)
- Apple Safari 2.0.x (Mac OS X 10.4.x)
What kind of account can I use with Bill Pay?
You may pay your bills out of any established Sterling checking account.
Can I pay bills out of multiple bill payment accounts?
Yes. You may add up to 99 bill payment accounts online. Requests to add accounts for Bill Pay use can be submitted by sending a Secure E-mail through your online banking access, or by calling Central Customer Service at 1-800-650-7141.
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How much does Bill Pay cost?
For Personal Net Banking, Bill Pay is free if you pay 2 or more bills per calendar month. If less than 2 bills are paid per month, a $5.95 inactivity fee will be assessed to your checking account. Premium Checking customers receive Bill Pay for free, without exception, when combined with Personal Net Banking.
For Small Business Net Banking, Bill Pay is free for up to 20 payments per calendar month. Additional payments are $0.50 each.
For Business Net Banking, Bill Pay is free for up to 20 payments per calendar month. Additional payments are $0.50 each.
Are there any other fees associated with Bill Pay?
If you submit a stop payment request on a draft check, the normal $29.00 stop payment fee will apply. (See Draft Check under Payments & Processing.)
When am I charged for Bill Pay related fees?
You are charged within the first ten calendar days of the month for the previous month’s activity. For example, a charge for May’s activity would be charged to your checking account by June 10th.
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How are my payments sent?
Your payments can be sent in one of three ways, depending upon how your biller prefers to be paid:
- Electronic Payment (ACH): The payment is made electronically to your biller on the pay date you select. Your checking account is also charged on this pay date.
- Single Check: The payment is sent via a corporate check from the bill payment service. The check is mailed in advance, so it arrives by your selected pay date. Your account is also charged on this pay date.
- Draft Check: The payment is sent via a laser draft check, and is processed just as a normal handwritten check. The check is mailed in advance, so it arrives by your selected pay date. Your account is charged for the payment when the draft check clears.
Can I determine how a specific payment is sent?
The Bill Pay service will determine the best method of payment for you, based upon how your biller prefers to be paid and also the payment due date. Once the payment has been sent, you can see which payment method was used by looking at your Bill History within Bill Pay.
Can I create a bill payment to recur automatically?
Yes. You can create automatic payments to recur weekly, every other week, monthly, every other month, quarterly, annually, and more.
What is the earliest I can make a payment?
The Payment Center will always tell you the earliest date you can make a payment to a specific biller. For most billers, the earliest you can schedule a payment is 2-4 business days in the future.
How far in advance can I schedule a single payment?
You can schedule a single payment up to 365 days in advance.
How far in advance can I schedule a recurring payment?
You can schedule a recurring payment to begin processing up to 365 days in advance of the first due date. These payments can be set up to continue recurring until a date you specify, for a certain number of payments, or your recurring payment can be set to recur indefinitely until you cancel or change it. Recurring payments with a set end date, or set number of payments cannot be created to recur more than 999 times.
Can I change a payment?
Yes. You can change a payment at any time before it starts processing, as long as the payment is still in a “Pending” status. Once the payment processes, it changes to a “Paid” status, and cannot be changed or deleted online. If you have a question about a paid item, please contact Sterling Central Customer Service at 1-800-650-7141.
Are my payments guaranteed?
Sterling guarantees that your payment will reach your biller by your selected pay date. If a payment is late, you may submit a payment inquiry online or through Sterling Central Customer Service. If Sterling determines that the payment was made correctly (ex: the address was correct, and the payment date was before the bill’s due date) and still arrived late, we will credit up to $50.00 of late fees.
When is my account charged for a bill payment?
For each payment, the Bill Pay service will tell you the payment method that was used, and when your account will be charged. For electronic and single check payments, your account will be charged on the date that you selected as the pay date. For draft check payments, your account is charged when the check clears.
How will I be able identify a bill payment online or on my statement?
Bill payments will be identified online or on your statement by listing the name of your biller, followed by the word “Online Pmt”. For example, if you sent a payment to XYZ Corporation, the charge to your account might list as “XYZ Corp – Online Pmt”
Can I export Bill Pay history to Quicken®?
Yes. For Personal and Small Business Net Banking customers, Bill Pay history is available for export to Quicken® in a QIF format from within the bill payment service.
For Business Net Banking customers, Bill Pay history is available for export to Quicken®, QuickBooks®, and Microsoft® Money. You can also export all of your account transaction history, including bill pay transactions, through Sterling Net Banking.
When should I submit a payment inquiry?
If you find a mistake with your payment, and the payment status is showing as “Paid”, you can submit a payment inquiry through Bill Pay. Inquiries can also be made if the payment has not posted, if late fees were accrued, etc.
How are payment inquiries handled?
Sterling Savings Bank will review your payment inquiry and work with your biller to research the matter and determine an appropriate resolution. Once the resolution has been reached, you will be notified either within your Bill Pay service under Messages, or via e-mail. Please allow at least 3-5 business days for your payment inquiry to be processed.
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How can I receive an e-bill - i.e. an electronic version of my bill?
If you have a biller that offers electronic version of their bills, you will see an icon next to the biller that says “sign up”. Clicking this icon will allow you to request e-bills from that biller.
Can I receive both my paper bill and e-bills?
While some billers will offer you the choice to continue receiving paper bills, many will stop creating paper bills when you register for the e-bill service. The service will always let you know if signing up for e-bills will replace your paper bills, or if your biller allows you to continue to receive paper bills in the mail.
How do I know when an e-bill is due?
If you have a biller whose-bill is due, you will see an icon next to the biller that says “due”. Clicking this icon will allow you to view and pay your e-bill.
Can I pay e-bills outside of Bill Pay?
Yes. You may pay your e-bills by any method you choose. If you do not pay the bill through Bill Pay, you can file the bill away and indicate that it was paid by other means. If you prefer to track how you paid each bill, you can specify how the bill was paid.
Can I view paid e-bills?
Yes. You may review paid e-bills when you look at your payment history, which stores up to 180 days of history.
Can I cancel an e-bill?
Yes. If you would like to stop receiving e-bills from a particular biller, you may stop the service at any time from within the Sterling Bill Pay service.
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How will I receive messages or notifications regarding Bill Pay?
When you first register for Bill Pay, we will keep you notified of the status of your request via
e-mail. You will receive an e-mail when your Bill Pay is ready for use.
If you registered for Bill Pay with Business Net Banking, you will receive a confirmation code via U.S. Mail that must be entered to activate your Bill Payment service.
Once you are registered, most messages regarding Bill Pay will be posted to the Message Center of Sterling Bill Pay. If you choose to set up notifications or bill reminders, you will be notified of them within Bill Pay and you may also elect to receive them via e-mail.
What types of notifications can I set up in Bill Pay?
Bill Pay notifications can be set up for Personal or Small Business Net Banking customers. For regular payments, you can set up reminders to tell you when your bill is due, when a payment has been sent, or if a payment has not been made by the due date. For automatic payments (also referred to as recurring payments) you can set up reminders to tell you when the payment is pending, when the payment has been sent, and when the last payment of your automatic model is sent. For e-bills, you can set up reminders to tell you when your payment has been sent, or if the payment has not been made by the due date.
When would I see a message in the Bill Pay Message Center?
If you submit a payment inquiry, your request will be responded to within the Message Center. You would also see a message post to the Message Center if Sterling needs to alert you of a payment or e-bill processing or setup issue, etc.
When would I receive an e-mail regarding Bill Pay?
Most e-mail messages will be sent to you from Sterling Savings Bank, or if you set up e-mail notifications within your Bill Pay service. In some cases, you may also be notified of payment processing issues via e-mail.
How can I set up bill reminders?
Bill Pay reminders can be set up within Personal or Small Business Net Banking. Bill Pay reminders can be created within the Payment Center, by selecting the Bill Reminders link, or by selecting a specific biller through the Manage My Bills tab.
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