by
Stacy Wise
| May 17, 2023
Loan Payment Options
Written by Andrea Klinedinst, Compliance Assistant
Automating payments can make managing your bills so much easier. You set up the payment, and the money comes out of your account on your schedule. MNB offers a few options for automatic payments, but what is the best choice when it comes to making loan payments?
What are Move Money, Auto Debit, and Bill Pay?
These are 3 of the options that MNB has for making automatic transfers, but what are they, and how do they work?
- Move Money is an easy way for you to set up your own payments, reoccurring or otherwise, to transfer between your MNB accounts including your loans. You can also set up your own Move Money transactions through MNB Online Banking. You can find this under Move Money. Make sure not to confuse the Move Money selection with the Bill Pay selection. Once in the Move Money section and under the Move Money heading, select “New Transaction.” From there, you can set the amount, date, the number of times, and when your payment should reoccur. Future payments will show up as Scheduled payments, and from there, you can edit the payment amount, date, or reoccurrence on your own.
- Auto Debit allows you to move money automatically between your bank accounts. This can be set up as a reoccurrence to pay for things like your loan or safe deposit box. The money is sent as an ACH, which is an electronic transfer, between your accounts. Auto Debit is set up by an MNB employee and can be done via a form or by phone. If any changes are needed on your payment amount or if you need to cancel the payment, you will need to contact an MNB employee for any updates.
- Bill Pay is an easy way for you to set up payments for your bills. Your account will be automatically debited on the schedule you set, and the payment will be sent straight from your account without you having to worry about getting your payment sent out in the mail. With Bill Pay, depending on the business you are paying, you can pay electronically, which can take up to 3 business days to be paid, or by check, which can take up to 5 business days to be paid. You can set up Bill Pay yourself through MNB Online Banking under Move Money. Future payments will show up as Scheduled payments, and from there, you can edit the payment amount, date, or reoccurrence on your own. You can cancel your Bill Pay payment by deleting the payee from your online account. If you are interested in setting up Bill Pay and would like to see how it works, you can schedule a meeting with an MNB employee to see a demonstration.
What is the easiest option for paying a loan?
Nancy Irish, Vice President-Mortgage Department Manager at our Canton banking center, says, “For paying a loan, Move Money within Online Banking has the most flexibility as you can choose the day to make a payment to coincide with your budget. If you will be making a payment on the same day each month, then Auto Debit is the best option. Be aware in choosing a date to avoid potential late charge fees.”
Nancy goes on to say, “[There are] customers [who] have their checking account at MNB and loan at MNB, [and] instead of using Move Money, they are getting set up with Bill Pay. [With Bill Pay,] a paper check is generated [sic] to have money taken from an MNB account to an MNB loan.”
She further states that for MNB loans, “Bill Pay is a paper check, not electronic. So, if the mail is delayed, [the customer] may receive a late charge on the loan. Bill Pay is on a recurring monthly basis, and you need to update the payment amount if your loan payment changes.”
Nancy also noted that some customers are signing up for more than one of these automatic payment options when only one is needed. If you have signed up for more than one of these payment options to pay for one of your loans, you are making double payments each month rather than just the one you need to pay.
If you have any questions or need help setting up or canceling any of these payment options, give us a call today at 877-647-5050 and someone will be happy to help you!