How does Check101 get my bill information?
To issue payments through Check101, you must register your payees by providing their name, billing address, account number (if applicable) and other pertinent information. For bills that you choose to receive at home, this is the only information you need to make available to Check101. If you choose to receive bills online, your payees will be notified to send your bills, either electronically or by mail, to a Check101 Processing Center. Electronic bills are posted immediately to your account. Paper bills are scanned and posted to your account within 24-48 hours of receipt.

How will I know when I have new bills?
Check101 uses e-mail to let you know the status of your bills. You control how Check101 notifies you, and can choose to be notified every time a new bill is posted to your account, seven days before a bill is due to be paid, and when a bill is about to go overdue. You can also check the Billing Center at any time to verify the status of your bills.

How soon after Check101 receives a bill will I be notified about it?
E-mail notification is automatically sent to your attention as soon as a bill is posted in the Check101 Billing Center. Paper bills are posted within 24-48 hours from when they arrive at the Check101 Processing Center.

What happens if I don't pay a bill?
Check101 will continue to send you e-mail notifications that a bill is overdue. Bills are never paid unless you authorize them. If you choose not to pay a bill, or pay by some other means, bills can be filed in the Check101 Billing Center without issuing a payment.

What happens to the hard copies of my bills after they have been scanned?
Your original paper bill is stored for three months from the day of receipt, after which it is shredded for security purposes and recycled. Paper bills received from your payees are converted into electronic form within 24-48 hours from when they are received at the Check101 Processing Center. Once converted into digital format, your bill is available to you at a summary level, at a detailed transactional level, and as an exact image of the complete original bill.

Summary information tells what bill came in, from whom, on what date and the amount due. Included with transaction information is a record of the action you took to either pay or file a bill and when and what actions Check101 took while processing your bill. Your bill appears as an electronic or scanned representation of the exact bill that was formerly mailed to your home.

Summary and transactional information is always available online. Bill images are maintained online for one year from the date the bill is posted online. After one year, your bill images are archived off-line for up to eight years.

Each year in January, Check101 makes a personalized end-of-year CD-ROM available which contains all of your previous calendar year's bill history information. On the CD-ROM you can access all of your bill images from the previous year, and all of your summary information. This CD-ROM is an optional benefit, which we provide at an additional cost.

The cost to retrieve original and archived bills from the Check101 Billing Center is $4.00 per bill. Requests for original paper bills must be made within three months of the date the bill is received by Check101.

What if some piece of important information, other than a bill, is sent to Check101?
Any non-bill notices, such as a rate change, will be scanned and delivered through the Billing Center. Physical objects sent to Check101, such as a calling card, are immediately forwarded to your home mailing address.

What if I decide later that I want the paper bill sent directly to my house?
If you want to have a payee send paper bills to your house, click on the My Payees tab in the Billing Center. Then click the edit icon next to the appropriate payee and choose the Billing Address Tab. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click the Send Form button. Check101 will notify the payee to reroute the bill to the original mailing address.

Do I have to pay the whole bill amount?
No. You decide and approve the amount of payment for every bill.

How are the payments issued?
Only you can authorize a payment from Check101 -- you tell us who, when and how much to pay. Payments are issued electronically or via paper checks, depending on the payee's capabilities. Both electronic payments and paper checks always include remittance information, ensuring that your payee can accurately record that the payment has been made for your account.

When are checks issued to my payees?
Most payees do not currently accept electronic payments. Therefore, Check101 recommends that you set the payment date 5-7 business days in advance of your bill due date. Check101 cuts paper checks twice a day, Monday through Friday. If you set payment in advance, your check is cut at 6 am EST on the day you designated the payment to be sent. To have a check sent out the same day that you authorize payment, you must authorize the transaction by 3 PM EST.

So, for example, if your payment is due to the payee on the 15th of the month and you set the payment date in advance as the 10th, Check101 will draft a check from your bank account on the 10th, at 6 am EST and mail the check via first class mail to your payee.

If you wait until the 10th to set the payment to go out, you must authorize your payment before 3 PM EST. (If you schedule the payment after 3 PM EST, your payment will be issued the following morning.)

The money will not be deducted from your bank account until the payee cashes your check.

When are electronic payments issued to my payees?
For payees who can accept Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT), Check101 recommends that you set the payment date three days in advance of the due date. If you authorize payment in advance, your EFT will be sent at 3 PM EST on the day you designated for the payment to be sent. To have an EFT issued on the same day you authorize payment, you must authorize the transaction by 3 PM EST. Please note: some EFT transactions may clear your bank account the same day they are issued. Be sure your account is funded in advance to avoid bounced payments.

How will I know if my payee accepts electronic payments?
You will know that a payee accepts electronic funds transfers if the letters "EFT" are displayed in the upper right hand corner of your check. No check number will be displayed. In addition, bills in your Outbox will display "EFT" in lieu of a check number.

When is my last chance to stop a payment?
You can choose to stop a payment up until 12 midnight EST on the night prior to the day you have designated for your payment to be sent. For example, if you have designated that your payment should be sent out on the 10th, you can stop the payment up until midnight EST on the 9th. You cannot stop a payment on the designated day a payment is to be sent.

Payments are issued electronically or via paper checks, depending on the payee's capabilities. Both electronic payments and paper checks always include remittance information, ensuring that your payee can accurately record that the payment has been made for your account. Check101 recommends that you plan to allow for five working days for paper checks to reach your payees. We recommend that you allow three business days for electronic payments to reach your payees.

How will I know when payment has been sent?
By clicking on the Bill Details icon for any bill, you will be able to access the Tracking tab, which gives precise information as to when a bill was posted to your account and when payment was issued.

When will the amount on the checks I authorized be deducted from my account?
If the payee accepts electronic payments, the amount is deducted from your account on the scheduled payment date that you have authorized. If the payee is being paid via paper check, the amount is deducted from your account when your payee cashes the check.

What if my payee cannot accept electronic payments?
Check101 will issue a paper check if your payee cannot accept electronic payments.

How is my Check101 service fee handled?
For your convenience, the process of paying your monthly service fee is automated. Seven days prior to the due date, you will receive an e-mail notice from Check101 and you can review the detailed statement in your Outbox. At any time during the seven days prior to the due date you have the capability to stop the payment by clicking on the Stop Payment icon in your Outbox. On the day your payment is due, Check101 will debit your default payment account via Electronic Funds Transfer (or issue a check on your behalf if your bank doesn't offer EFT). In accordance with the Terms and Conditions of the Check101 service, this monthly fee will be deducted from the checking account you designate as your "default" payment account.

Do I have to use Check101 for every bill?
No, you choose exactly which bills you want sent to Check101. When adding a payee, you will be asked if you want to receive the bill online. If you choose yes, a change of address notification will be sent to your payee, and bills should be redirected to a Check101 Processing Center. If you choose no, you will continue to receive the bill at home, and you can schedule payments through the Billing Center. Please note: there may be some rare instances where your bill will arrive online, but the payee will also send paper bills to your home. Please check the Billing Center to ensure you do not make duplicate payments.

Can I still write paper checks?
Yes. Check101 does not replace your checkbook, it simply makes managing your bills easier.

What happens if I do not have enough money in my checking account to cover my bills?
Check101 issues standard, approved payments against your checking account. Just as with a paper check, you have to maintain sufficient funds in the account to cover all payment obligations. Check101 is unable to notify you if you have insufficient funds. However, you can use the Check101 QuickBalance feature to retrieve an up-to-the-minute picture of your bank balance.

Does Check101 support bill payment by credit card?
Check101 will only issue payments from an account with check-writing privileges. You can use Check101 to pay your credit card with a check, but cannot use your credit card to pay other bills through Check101 at this time. Check101 is currently exploring working with a number of payees to accept credit card payments through Check101.

How does the Check101 QuickBalance™ feature work?
The Check101 QuickBalance™ feature is the combined balance of your continuously updated online bank account activity (including ATM withdrawals, deposits, debits, etc.) and your up-to-the-minute Check101 bill payment record. With QuickBalance you get the most up-to-date, accurate picture of your bank balance – all without leaving the Check101 site – and all for no additional cost! Use of QuickBalance requires that you have an online bank account with one of the QuickBalance enabled banks. For a complete list of the banks that are enabled to work with QuickBalance, click on the QuickBalance button within the Check101 Billing Center.

Can I pay all of my bills at one time?
Yes. You can pay multiple bills simultaneously from your Inbox. Just activate the Quick Pay feature from the Bill Inbox and check the box next to the bills you would like to pay. Enter an amount and payment date for each bill and click the Pay button. Your payments will appear in the Inbox, just as if you'd entered them one at a time.

What is the Personal Notes feature, and how is it different from the memo field on a check?
Personal Notes are reminders you can add to any payment or filed item. Common uses for a Personal Note include reminders about why a payment was made, the occasion for a gift, or a dispute with the payee. Personal Notes are completely private, and can only be seen by you. In contrast, the memo field on a check is printed right on the check for the purpose of making an additional note to the payee.