Bill pay services offered by banks and credit unions provide a convenient way to pay bills online. With bill pay, you can set up one-time or recurring payments to companies or individuals and the bank will mail a paper check or process an electronic payment on your behalf
While bill pay saves time over manually mailing paper checks, occasionally there can be hiccups in the process. One common issue is when the recipient claims they never received or cashed the check you sent through bill pay. If this happens to you, there are steps you can take to investigate and remedy the situation.
How Often Does This Issue Occur?
Problems with bill pay checks not being cashed do happen but based on anecdotal reports from bill pay users they seem to occur relatively infrequently. Out of over 35 comments on a Bogleheads forum thread discussing this topic, only a handful of users reported major issues with payments not reaching recipients. Several others said they’ve used bill pay services for years with only minor or no problems.
On a Money Stack Exchange thread asking specifically about Bank of America’s bill pay service, out of 6 responses, only one mentioned a potential delay in check delivery. The rest said Bank of America’s bill pay works well and checks arrive on time.
So while issues like non-delivery or uncashed checks can certainly occur, they do not appear to be widespread or inherent flaws with bill pay as a concept. For most customers, the vast majority of bill pay checks reach their destination and get cashed without incident.
Why Might a Bill Pay Check Go Uncashed?
There are a few possible reasons why a bill pay check might not get cashed:
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Lost in the mail: Paper checks sent via standard USPS mail can occasionally get lost or delayed. The recipient may claim they never received the check.
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Processing error: If bill pay is set up for electronic/ACH transfer, there could be an error in account or routing numbers that prevents the money from transferring.
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Recipient issues: The recipient may have changed addresses without informing you. Or they may have received the check but forgot or neglected to cash it in a timely manner.
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Bank error: In rare cases, the bank could make a mistake such as sending the check to the wrong recipient.
What To Do If Your Bill Pay Check Is Not Cashed
If you scheduled a bill payment but the recipient claims it was never received or cashed, there are actions you can take to resolve the issue:
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Contact your bank: Inform your bank or credit union that the bill pay check was not cashed. Ask them to investigate on their end. They can review records to verify the check was sent and may be able to provide a copy as proof.
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Work with the recipient: Have the recipient double check their records for any indication the payment was received. Ask them to watch for the check in case it was simply overlooked.
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Stop payment: If necessary, your bank can put a stop payment on the original check if it is still outstanding. This will prevent the check from being cashed if it was lost then later found.
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Cancel and reissue: As a last resort, you may need to cancel the original payment and reissue a new bill pay check or electronic payment. This ensures the recipient gets paid even if the first check is still missing.
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Review bill pay setup: Take time to review your bill pay setup. Double check that recipient details like names, addresses and account numbers are all correct to avoid future issues.
Tips to Prevent Bill Pay Check Issues
While problems are occasional rather than frequent, there are some precautions you can take to minimize the risk of payments going astray:
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Set up recipients properly with correct name, address, account details.
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Schedule key bill payments at least 1 week before the actual due date.
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Choose electronic payments over paper checks when possible.
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Review statements to ensure payments were sent and cashed.
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Inform recipients if you change bill pay providers.
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Update recipient details if their contact info changes.
Are Bill Pay Services Still Worth Using?
Despite the occasional hiccup, bill pay remains an efficient, convenient method used by millions of customers. The time and cost savings generally outweigh the small risk of payments going astray for most bill pay users.
Bill pay providers are motivated to deliver reliable service – a JD Power study showed high satisfaction with bill pay, exceeding satisfaction with traditional payment methods.
However, for vital payments like rent or utilities where even small delays could cause major issues, paper checks may be preferable to bill pay. Using bill pay for more flexible expenses can minimize risks.
Overall, bill pay remains a solid option with convenience and cost savings. But staying organized, planning ahead, and monitoring payment activity can help avoid major disruptions from uncashed bill pay checks.
What To Do If Your Bill Pay Check Is Not Cashed – Key Takeaways:
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Issues with uncashed bill pay checks occur but are relatively uncommon.
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Reasons it may happen include postal errors, recipient issues, bank errors.
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Contact your bank, the recipient, and review bill pay setup to resolve.
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Take precautions like scheduling payments early and selecting electronic transfers to prevent issues.
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Bill pay services still offer significant time and cost savings for most users.
Version 12.2 – Bank Issued/Bill Pay Checks
FAQ
How long does it take for a bill pay check to clear?
What happens if a check is never cashed?
Do bill pay checks expire?
Why would a bill pay check be returned?
What happens if Bill Pay is not received?
Bill pay is sent electronically and not received – call the bank and they will have to research what happened. Often times it’s sent to the wrong account or it’s in limbo, but the bank will have to do the research. Bill pay is sent via paper check – call the bank to determine if the check was deposited.
Does a bill pay check have a stamp?
Most banks don’t change for this service, which “saves you a stamp”. However, in contrast to hand-written checks, the bill-pay checks get funded immediately when they are sent, not when they are cashed. Occasionally, a check might never get cashed, because it gets lost in the mail or the recipient fails to cash it for whatever reason.
What happens if a check is not cashed?
If the check isn’t cashed in a certain amount of time, the check expires and you get the money credited back to your account. Once you have made a bill payment online you can check on the status of your check by looking at your payment activity, finding the payment in question, and following the “proof of payment” link.
What happens if you send a paper check via bill pay?
When sending a paper check via bill pay, they withdraw the money from my account immediately (it appears as a debit transaction on my statement) and move it to a temporary account somewhere. The recipient gets a check drawn on the temporary account, not on mine (it doesn’t have my account number on it but a different one).
How do I know if a payment was sent?
The funds for the payment are deducted from your account when the pay to recipient cashes the check, just as if you wrote the check yourself. To determine how your payment was sent, click the “Payments” button in your Bill Pay service. Select the “view payment” link next to the payment. Payment information is then displayed.
What happens if a bill is sent to a wrong account?
Often times it’s sent to the wrong account or it’s in limbo, but the bank will have to do the research. Bill pay is sent via paper check – call the bank to determine if the check was deposited. If not, it’s refunded to your account (via stop payment) and you need to do some research to find out what happened.