Paying bills at the counter?

jennifernil

Or are you saying that if you pop into your bank and say "I'd like to pay my gas bill, here are the details of where I usually pay it too, and here is the amount I want to pay", they will not do it?

(as in "I do not have the bill with payment slip attached")

Naf

jennifernil wrote: »

So, you are saying, if I take my CC bill, with Bank Giro attached, to my bank, they would refuse to take the payment from my account and send it to my CC provider?

(I do have a DD set up, so hypothetical, but let's assume I do not have a DD set up)

With Santander they do not have the option to pay it by GIRO (but only because the company has opted not to join the system or offer it as a service at the counter), but would be happy to pay it by BACS (Bill Payment) assuming the details were on the bill.
With Halifax, they will happily pay the GIRO by cash, they might take the cash from your account first, but they have opted not to allow Bill Payments from their counters.

jennifernil wrote: »

Or are you saying that if you pop into your bank and say "I'd like to pay my gas bill, here are the details of where I usually pay it too, and here is the amount I want to pay", they will not do it?

(as in "I do not have the bill with payment slip attached")

At Halifax, no they would not.

jennifernil

That sounds fairly reasonable, it is a while since they would make a payment without a Bank Giro slip.

But I don't understand what these "Bill Payments" you refer to are.

(we are with Halifax)

jennifernil

Edit....I see now....Bill Payments are BACS payments?

Do people get sent bills to pay that do not have a Giro slip attached?

Naf

jennifernil wrote: »

But I don't understand what these "Bill Payments" you refer to are

In essence the details (Sort Code, Account Number and Reference) for the place you want to pay are stored on your account in a similar way to Standing Order details. The only real difference is that Bill payments only get sent when you initiate them; you have to request it each time you want a payment

jennifernil wrote: »

Edit....I see now....Bill Payments are BACS payments?

They can go by BASC, CHAPS or Faster Payments (FPS)

jennifernil wrote: »

Do people get sent bills to pay that do not have a Giro slip attached?

Some companies will only attach a giro if that is the way you have opted to pay. My mobile phone bills (before I moved to online only) came without any payment slip when I paid by DD, and a payment slip was added when I switched to SO.

jennifernil

That sounds entirely reasonable.

Glad I have everything set up on DDs!!

JacksterD

tazwhoever wrote: »

I asked the bank today, they said paying bills set up on my current account (issued by the same bank) can not be paid. Only telephone and online banking.

But surprisely, Giro can be paid by cash at the bank, but not the bills set up on the current account.

For those who want to know, bills I am talking about are gas, electricity, rent, council tax, credit card. I do not want DD.

All major gas and electricity providers allow you to pay at the Post Office, and I believe most councils do, as well as many housing associations. You probably wouldn't be able to pay the credit card off at the Post Office, though.

JuicyJesus

The thing is, BACS/FPS payments over branch counters are a minefield for banks. Given that one misentered digit can have one's money sent to an entirely different account, or the money sent out be an order of magnitude smaller than what it should be, if there is a problem then basically it is the banks' word against the customer's that the customer gave them incorrect details (or, alternatively, that the bank input them incorrectly).

Therefore they (quite reasonably) cover their !!!!!! by saying that all such payments have to be made by either telephone banking (where calls are recorded to settle any such disputes over who provided the inaccurate information) or Internet banking (where the customer provides all the details themselves, leaving no scope for the bank to have screwed up at all).

Naf

JuicyJesus wrote: »

Therefore they (quite reasonably) cover their !!!!!! by saying that all such payments have to be made by either telephone banking (where calls are recorded to settle any such disputes over who provided the inaccurate information) or Internet banking (where the customer provides all the details themselves, leaving no scope for the bank to have screwed up at all).

I'm only aware that Halifax do this...

jennifernil

I can understand this. What I do not understand is why so many people are so reluctant to set up DDs to pay their bills.

With the DD guarantee, there should be no problem, and it is really convenient, often gets a discount, cuts out having to remember to make payments etc.

As pensioners, we are often away from home in our caravan for 3-4 months at a time, frequently abroad and without internet access, so DDs are pretty essential.