Bill Pay Conversion
What is changing?
– We are changing the way Bill Pay payments are scheduled and sent to the payee—you will now select a Send On date rather than a Deliver By date.
– We are changing how we process electronic Bill Pay payments—your account will now be debited for an electronic payment on the date the payment is sent (the Send On date), rather than the date the payment is delivered to the payee.
– We are changing how we process Bill Pay payments sent as a paper check—these checks will no longer be drawn off of your River City Bank account, but rather a trust account dedicated to Bill Pay. Like electronic payments, your account will now be debited for each check payment on the Send On date as opposed to when the check is presented for payment.
Due to the above changes, the number of days needed for a payment to reach the payee (the ‘lead time’) will be increasing by one day. This means you may need to schedule your payments earlier than you may currently be doing in order to ensure the payment reaches the payee when you needed.
Why are you making this change to the Bill Pay process?
One of our goals is to better protect you and your Bill Pay accounts – this is especially true for check payments. Currently, Bill Pay check payments have your River City Bank account number on them and are sent via US Mail. With the change, Bill Pay checks will no longer be drawn off of your account, but rather a dedicated Bill Pay account. This helps protect your account number from being exposed to mail fraud and tampering.
We also want to offer a more intuitive Online Bill Pay experience. Now, when you choose a Send My Payment On date, the screen will show you the expected delivery date. For check payments, you will have access to view images of cleared Bill Pay checks right from the Bill Pay screen.
When will this change to the Bill Pay process be taking place?
The change will occur during a maintenance period that will begin at approximately 8:00 pm PST on Friday, September 18th, 2020 and last until approximately 8:00 am PST on Monday, September 21st.
On Monday, September 21st, the Bill Pay screen in online banking will reflect the changes that have been made to the process and all Bill Pay payments, including previously scheduled ones, will be subject to the new process.
Will Online Banking be available during the weekend the changes are taking place?
Personal Online Banking will not be available beginning at approximately 8:00 pm PST on Friday, September 18th, 2020 until approximately 8:00 am PST on Monday, September 21st.
Commercial Online Banking will be available during the timeframe; however, the Bill Pay feature will be inaccessible.
The Personal and Commercial mobile banking applications will both be available for use during this timeframe; however, the Bill Pay component of the applications will not be accessible. The Bill Pay component within mobile banking will remain inaccessible until approximately 5:00 pm on Tuesday, September 22nd.
What is the difference between the terms “Deliver By” and “Send My Payment On”?
CURRENT METHOD – “Deliver By”: When you set up a payment with a “Deliver By” date, the system processes the payment so that it arrives to the payee no later than that date.
If it is an electronic payment, the payee receives credit on the “Deliver By” date. Your account is not debited for the payment until that date.
If it is a check payment, the check is mailed enough days in advance so that it arrives by the “Deliver By” date. These checks are drawn directly off of your River City Bank account, so your account is not be debited until the check is presented to the bank for payment.
NEW METHOD – “Send My Payment On:” As of September 21st, when you set up a payment, you will select a “Send My Payment On” date. This is the date that your account will be debited, and the system will process and send out your payment. When you pick a Send On date, the Bill Pay screen will show you the earliest possible delivery date.
For electronic payments, your account will be debited on the “Send My Payment On” date and the payee will receive the payment on the delivery date indicated on the Bill Pay screen.
For check payments, your account will be debited on the “Send My Payment On” date and the Bill Pay screen will show you the date the check is expected to reach the payee (the check is sent via US mail and subject to delivery time by the USPS).
Will I need to do anything to my scheduled or recurring payments prior to the conversion weekend of September 19th?
Yes. As part of the change to processing payments based on a Send On date, the lead time for payments to arrive to the payee is increasing by 1 business day for both electronic payments and check payments. You will want to take a look at any payments you have set with a Deliver By date that happen to fall in the first week or so after the conversion and possibly change their Deliver By dates to a day or two earlier. This is necessary for both scheduled one-time payments and recurring payments. Without action on your part, any payment scheduled may arrive later than the Deliver By date you currently have selected.
For example: You have a PG&E Bill due on the 1st of each month. To make sure it is received on time, you currently have it set as a recurring electronic payment with a Deliver By date of the 1st of each month.
After changes are made, the system will still send the payment out on the date it currently would (on September 30th), but because there is now an extra lead day of 1 business day, the payment will not be delivered until Friday, October 2nd.
Logging in before the weekend of September 19th and changing the Deliver By date for this payment to September 29th or earlier will help ensure that it is still received on October 1st.
After the change takes place, if my Bill is due on a given date, how far in advance do I need to schedule my payment?
As a helpful tool, when you select a Send On date for your payment, the Bill Pay screen will populate the expected delivery date based on the above lead times. It will gray out dates that are not available to be chosen as the Send On This will help you plan your payments so they make it to the payee by the due date.
This is determined by the payment method (check or electronic).
- Electronic Payments: At least 3 business days before the due date
- Check Payments: At least 5 business days before the due date. Check Payments are subject to delivery time by the USPS.
What happens if the Send On date lands on a weekend or holiday?
If the Send On date lands on a weekend or holiday, your payment will be initiated on the next business day. It is important to factor this in when you are scheduling payments, to allow enough lead days for the payment to arrive on time.
What will be the cut-off time for choosing the next day as the Send On date?
To select the next day as the Send On date, your payment must be submitted by 6:00 pm PST. This is changing from the current cut off time to submit a payment of 1:00 pm PST.
When will my account be debited for a Bill Pay Payment?
We will debit your account on the Send On date you select in online banking regardless of whether the payment method is electronic or check.
Example: If today is August 1st, and you select a Send On date of August 12th, we will debit your account for the amount of the payment on August 12th.
A Send My Payment On date must be a regular business day; the system will ensure this by not allowing a non-business day to be selected.
What if the payment is going to be sent as a check? Will you still debit my account on the Send My Payment On date?
Yes, we will still debit the account on this date. Our Bill Pay processor will then use these funds to create a check drawn off of a dedicated Bill Pay trust account to send to the payee.
For check payments, what happens if the payee never negotiates the check? Will I be credited back the funds?
Yes, if the check is not negotiated within 90 days of issuance, we will automatically void the check and credit your account back for the amount of the check.
You will have the ability to view cleared checks through your Bill Pay dashboard which will help you keep track of what checks have cleared.
If I do not have enough funds in my account on the Send On date, will the payment still be sent?
Unfortunately not. If there are insufficient funds in your designated Bill Pay account on the Send On date, the payment will not go out.
Additionally, the payment will not be sent for other reasons such as:
- Your account is closed
- Your account has a post no debits or post no transactions flag on it
Will I be notified if my payment is cancelled due to insufficient funds or any other reason?
Yes. The system will send an e-mail to your e-mail address on file, explaining what payment was cancelled and why it was cancelled.
If a payment fails to be sent due to my account having insufficient funds or any other reason, and the situation is corrected, will the system re-attempt my payment?
No. If a payment fails due to an above reason, the system will not re-attempt to send it. You will need to re-schedule the payment.
If I need to make an expedited payment, when will my account be debited?
For an expedited payment, your account will be debited in real time. If you do not have sufficient funds in your account when you submit the payment, the payment will not be sent.
Should you have any additional questions, please contact a Customer Service Representative at (916) 567-2899 or (800) 564-7144 or via email at [email protected].
