# Online utility bill payment applications, work only during office or early hours



## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

Here goes:

A huge learning lesson for myself when using online bill applications such as Gcash/PayMaya, they are excellent applications they do work, but outside the Business operation hours this service is suspended for making utility bill payments and so in a nutshell that's my message and I'm pretty sure it's because the various billing companies such as Meralco in my case, close their office servers.

Good luck finding this information, the pop up I got was "the services were unavailable at this time" so I thought our electrical company discontinued this payment option, the reason being the Bayad (payment) centers in our area also stopped processing these transactions two years ago with our local electrical provider, so my next step in a panic was to "Cash out" my Gcash the following day and travel to the city to make our payment, it sometimes can be a 3-hour wait outside and then inside the company, I noticed that the previous day while I was in the city that our electrical provider had many people waiting outside to address their bills.

Before I left the house I tried once again not expecting it to work but it worked just fine, it was around 9 am that I made the transaction.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Our electricity supplier will accept G Cash but only up to the due, after the due date you can only pay at their office.


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

Our supplier only takes cash (LUELCO) so I or the better half goes in the next day the bill is delivered and there are no queues, the cashier sometimes comments "sir your bill is lower this month" Tsismis? I wish we could have auto debit everything like most countries.

Cheers, Steve.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

Gary D said:


> Our electricity supplier will accept G Cash but only up to the due, after the due date, you can only pay at their office.


Our electrical due date is the 25th of the month and so my pension comes in on the 1st of the month so I can never make that date with the local Mom & Pop Pharmacy, they take bill payments until the 25th, and then after that, they won't do it.

I did pay Meralco, (you might have a different provider) yesterday so it was late and they accepted it.

Now that I have the one-way check valve installed on my electric water pump I'm wishing for a more reduced bill, my bill was nearly 8,000 pesos, but I do have my daughter (husband has no job due to the Covid restrictions) her family with us so there's a total of 8.


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## amcan13 (Sep 28, 2021)

Yeah, I learned the hard way too. Gcash would have all the providers then at another time they are grayed out. I was in a panic about paying the bill but waited a day or so and then back they came.
I also learned a lesson in trying to Gcash load my smart sim. I didn't pay attention when starting Gigalife app and left on the wifi because I knew I had zero load. well the text and calls worked incoming but I could not load via Gcash. Turns out I reinstalled Gigalife without wifi and it gave me data and installed. Now I Gcashed new load just fine.
With the link to my ATM account I can load Gcash easily now. I am not a fan of using a qr code at 7-11 handing over cash in public. 
While I was in Manila I used Gcash to pay for Grab. It work good for that too. I miss Grab here on my island. But there is panda for delivery in the city.
Is there is limitation on the cash sitting in Gcash? I know load for Globe expires in a year. Does Gcash expect activity like a bank? Or deactivate your account?
That is a high electricity bill. Even with my construction, including welding, mine never went over 7000. Electricity here is just as expensive as in California.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

amcan13 said:


> Yeah, I learned the hard way too. Gcash would have all the providers then at another time they are grayed out. I was in a panic about paying the bill but waited a day or so and then back they came.
> I also learned a lesson in trying to Gcash load my smart sim. I didn't pay attention when starting Gigalife app and left on the wifi because I knew I had zero load. well the text and calls worked incoming but I could not load via Gcash. Turns out I reinstalled Gigalife without wifi and it gave me data and installed. Now I Gcashed new load just fine.
> With the link to my ATM account I can load Gcash easily now. I am not a fan of using a qr code at 7-11 handing over cash in public.
> While I was in Manila I used Gcash to pay for Grab. It work good for that too. I miss Grab here on my island. But there is panda for delivery in the city.
> ...


Amcan, if you load over 8,000 pesos on your Gcash account they will start to charge a 2% fee, so as long as you keep the balance under 8,000 pesos it's a free service.


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## amcan13 (Sep 28, 2021)

I checked the fine print. The 2% is for cash in or cash out over 8000 for over the counter outlets. If you use something like PayPal you can go over the 8000 limit with no fees. Also some banks charge a fee to send money from linked ATM account. If you click on terms and conditions on bottom of main screen you can scroll down to fees and hit help link to see the details. So far I have not paid any fees for cash in.


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## amcan13 (Sep 28, 2021)

I paid my PLDT internet bill with Gcash yesterday. The PLDT payee was grayed out in the morning but available in the afternoon. I am not sure what the pattern to when you can pay is because it is 4am now and it is available for payment. Lesson is to just keep checking I guess.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

amcan13 said:


> I paid my PLDT internet bill with Gcash yesterday. The PLDT payee was grayed out in the morning but available in the afternoon. I am not sure what the pattern to when you can pay is because it is 4am now and it is available for payment. Lesson is to just keep checking I guess.


Thank you amcan for that update on available times. I'll do anything I can to avoid waiting in three deep lines outside and inside our electrical companies building for 3 hrs just to make lol... My monthly utility payment.


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## fmartin_gila (May 15, 2011)

Don't know if this is available in all areas or billing companies but I pay my electric (More Power) at Palawan and my Cignal & Globe phone bill at 7-11. Both of these(Palawan & 7-11) are next door to each other here in Mandurriao about 1/4 Km from my house so I just take a stroll and pay them all at once.

Fred


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## amcan13 (Sep 28, 2021)

I am new and don't really have a comfort level paying bills at third party locations. My paranoia level is still high providing information to clerks. Word of mouth on the only kano in town travels fast. When I go to church or attend functions people get the info. I like online bill pay because it is the similar to what I was used to in the USA. So far Gcash has been the most reliable for payments (lazada, globe and smart load, electric and internet).  All except the water, I have to send a kid down to pay that because it is just a local utility. Based on conversations with lazada support on their bill pay options, it seems that there are computer issues on both sides that result in service interruptions. I never gov told why they just don't queue up the payment for when it comes back online. I notice it was very difficult for them to trace payments. Gcash states in the terms that if you enter wrong info tough. By hitting confirm they send the money and you can't get it back unless the receiver wants to send it back. I am spoiled by the US banks that provide much better service since they seem to have standards to follow. I know a international bank wire is totally recoverable, I have clawed back money from Philippines banks twice. I am not sure the remittance services are as forgiving.


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## fmartin_gila (May 15, 2011)

amcan13 said:


> I am new and don't really have a comfort level paying bills at third party locations. My paranoia level is still high providing information to clerks. Word of mouth on the only kano in town travels fast. When I go to church or attend functions people get the info. I like online bill pay because it is the similar to what I was used to in the USA. So far Gcash has been the most reliable for payments (lazada, globe and smart load, electric and internet). All except the water, I have to send a kid down to pay that because it is just a local utility. Based on conversations with lazada support on their bill pay options, it seems that there are computer issues on both sides that result in service interruptions. I never gov told why they just don't queue up the payment for when it comes back online. I notice it was very difficult for them to trace payments. Gcash states in the terms that if you enter wrong info tough. By hitting confirm they send the money and you can't get it back unless the receiver wants to send it back. I am spoiled by the US banks that provide much better service since they seem to have standards to follow. I know a international bank wire is totally recoverable, I have clawed back money from Philippines banks twice. I am not sure the remittance services are as forgiving.



Welcome to the Philippines. LOL You do get used to the inefficiencies & lack of services. We are spoiled. 

Fred


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

amcan13 said:


> I am new and don't really have a comfort level paying bills at third party locations. My paranoia level is still high providing information to clerks. Word of mouth on the only kano in town travels fast. When I go to church or attend functions people get the info. I like online bill pay because it is the similar to what I was used to in the USA. So far Gcash has been the most reliable for payments (lazada, globe and smart load, electric and internet). All except the water, I have to send a kid down to pay that because it is just a local utility. Based on conversations with lazada support on their bill pay options, it seems that there are computer issues on both sides that result in service interruptions. I never gov told why they just don't queue up the payment for when it comes back online. I notice it was very difficult for them to trace payments. Gcash states in the terms that if you enter wrong info tough. By hitting confirm they send the money and you can't get it back unless the receiver wants to send it back. I am spoiled by the US banks that provide much better service since they seem to have standards to follow. I know a international bank wire is totally recoverable, I have clawed back money from Philippines banks twice. I am not sure the remittance services are as forgiving.


We pay COD with both Lazada and Shopee.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

fmartin_gila said:


> Don't know if this is available in all areas or billing companies but I pay my electric (More Power) at Palawan and my Cignal & Globe phone bill at 7-11. Both of these(Palawan & 7-11) are next door to each other here in Mandurriao about 1/4 Km from my house so I just take a stroll and pay them all at once.
> 
> Fred


In our area Fred the Bayad or Payment centers refuse to pay our Electrical bill from Meralco even though it states they accept payments, it's been that way now for two years but they used to accept payments, they will process our PLDT bill though, in our area it's the Cebuano L Hullier business that take these payments, we have two in our Municpality.

7-Eleven is another spot I will no longer use, they have all sorts if connection problems with the internet.


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## amcan13 (Sep 28, 2021)

COD has a lot of restrictions on what I can buy. I use credit-card or Gcash for lazada. The refund is much easier if you pay online. I have bought over a hundred items on lazada and only had two returns. But they do it faster if I paid with credit-card. 
I tried lazada bill pay and cel load options. I had mixed results. I have had best luck with Gcash, I even paid my father-in-laws PLDT internet with my Gcash. For those that might wonder, he gave me the cash to pay. He just has no idea about apps and they had issue going to 3rd party over the counter.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

amcan13 said:


> COD has a lot of restrictions on what I can buy. I use credit-card or Gcash for lazada. The refund is much easier if you pay online. I have bought over a hundred items on lazada and only had two returns. But they do it faster if I paid with credit-card.
> I tried lazada bill pay and cel load options. I had mixed results. I have had best luck with Gcash, I even paid my father-in-laws PLDT internet with my Gcash. For those that might wonder, he gave me the cash to pay. He just has no idea about apps and they had issue going to 3rd party over the counter.


It took me a while to figure out Gcash, I had to watch a few YouTube videos plus I was using the older model flip open/close flip-style cell phone but now I'm back to the Smart Phone due to all the Covid requirements, but Gcash sure has been the cure to pay my utility bill. I still use the older model phone for communication, it's easier to just open the phone to answer and then close it to hang up.

Since last year the major chained restaurants in our area now accept credit cards when making orders online for delivery or even dining in, some already accepted the credit card like Shakey's but other's hadn't upgraded their software such as KFC or McDonalds before it was only cash, local bank cards or Gcash.


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## amcan13 (Sep 28, 2021)

I am glad that I retired when online banking, 401k management, tax filing and FBAR filing is possible via the internet. I am not sure how I would have made it here without electronic financial services, including Gcash and Philippines bank ATM account linking to apps. It is usually harder to secure your accounts than learning how to use them. 
I do notice a big change since 2018 when I could hardly use my credit card here. Now I have so many options.


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## Lunkan (Aug 28, 2020)

amcan13 said:


> I am new and don't really have a comfort level paying bills at third party locations.


 You can become such yourself  For a small amount you can join such paying NETWORK - ment for small businesses as e g sari-saris to give such service to customers, but I think can be convinient to just use for yourself. I havent seen any adds to join such for a while, there were many earlier. From 1000 pesos upfront to join.
Perhaps have these adds ended by being compeeted out by other solutions? I saw an online bank had started having such paying service too.

So you can pay the bills to the businesses which has joined that network even from home, so need to check which each network have.


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## amcan13 (Sep 28, 2021)

Another twist to Gcash payment. While the Moresco1 is available for payment, not grayed out, it seems there is a delay in when the bill gets put on your house and when it is in the system to accept payment. So now I do what I did last month, click on it until it accepts the payment. 
This differs from Bill pay by banks in usa, they deal with getting the payment to the payee letting me just queue up the payment


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## amcan13 (Sep 28, 2021)

I just has a talk with Moresco1 guy who was at our Knights of Columbus meeting. I asked about the inability to pay via Gcash. He said their servers were the issue and just go to 7-11 and pay in town. 
So I am not sure how 7-11 computers would work but he was not surprised at hit or miss Gcash connection. I will try to pay with Gcash at 7-11 for the bill and see how that works.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

My HSBC debit card only works on Lazada during office hours, not sure who is at fault. It often surprises me how primitive it can be here.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

amcan13 said:


> I just has a talk with Moresco1 guy who was at our Knights of Columbus meeting. I asked about the inability to pay via Gcash. He said their servers were the issue and just go to 7-11 and pay in town.
> So I am not sure how 7-11 computers would work but he was not surprised at hit or miss Gcash connection. I will try to pay with Gcash at 7-11 for the bill and see how that works.


I won't use 7-Eleven in our area because they use poor internet connections.


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## amcan13 (Sep 28, 2021)

Well getting up to feed the baby has benefits. I was able to pay Moresco1 bill using Gcash at 4am. I looked back at last month and it was on the 17th at midnight. Seems this one biller likes after hours payments. i will have to plan a test for next month. Paying once a month, I should have enough data points for a proper analysis in a few years.


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