My husband and I travel often and when we leave, we always have to worry that our bills will come due while we are gone. Because of this, we decided to automate out utility bill payments. For some bills this is not as easy as it sounds. The benefits though are ease of mind, prevention of any late fees, fewer checks to write and convenience. This is also ideal for helping ensure your elderly parents don’t forget to pay their bills.

Before you start, contact your bank and find out your bank’s transit/routing number. Also have on hand the bank account number that contains the funds you intend to use to pay the bills. Also make sure you have Adobe Reader installed on your computer (this is a free download that is safe to use).

Verizon Wireless – Automated Bill Payment Setup

1)      Turn your bill payment slip over

2)      Sign it

3)      Pay your bill and mail it in. Your check will be used to set up the automated payment. This was quick and easy.

Comcast – Automated Bill Payment Setup

1)      Go to Comcast.com (not the same place as your email accounts for your high speed internet if you have it).

2)      Click Create an Account in the upper right corner of the screen.

3)      Fill out the form:

Name, address, e-mail address, new password, password repeated, reminder question, answer to reminder question, phone number, a made up account name and your Comcast account number.

At the end, agree to the terms and conditions by clicking a box, then click the submit button.

4)      Back at the Comcast.com homepage, sign in using your e-mail address and password that you provided in step 3.

5)      When you sign in, the Manage My Account screen shows, select Pay My Bill.

6)      Four options are shown for how to pay your bill, select Set Up Automatic Monthly Electronic Fund Transfers. A form appears that shows the terms and conditions, read, click Accept and Continue.

7)      On the next screen you enter the type of account (savings, checking), account number, and transit/routing number for your bank. Then click Continue.

8)      An e-mail is sent to your e-mail address confirming your request. It also tells you it may take a month to go into affect.

Allstate – Automatic Bill Payment Setup

1)      Set up an account at www.allstate.com

This procedure requires all of your policy numbers and will tell you what you can and cannot have for a password.

2)      Log in and select a policy, any one of them will do.

3)      Select Allstate Easy Pay Plan

The automatic payment methods presented include Allstate Easy Pay Plan and several others, select Allstate Easy Pay Plan.

4)      Fill out the next forms to provide your bank routing number and your bank account number.

5)      Once finished with the online forms your request will be complete.

Puget Sound Energy – Automated Bill Payment Setup

1)      Go to www.pse.com

2)      Click on the Home & Business Solutions tab, a pull down menu will appears, select the first option that appears labeled Your Account.

3)      On the Home & Business Solutions screen, you will see many options, including one titled Paying Your Bill

4)      Click on Paying Your Bill, a pull down menu appears. Select the first option Payment Plans and Options.

5)      The main menu will change, leaving the side menu unchanged. A new set of tabs will appear for each Payment Plan Option. Click the second tab labeled AFT, which apparently means authorization for funds transfer.

6)      The automatic payments page pops up. This page explains how to set up automatic funds transfer. At the bottom of the page is the selectable text in green, Automatic Funds Transfer Authorization Form, click on these words.

7)      A PDF file downloads. Print the PDF file two times, once for Puget Sound Energy, once for your records.

8)      Fill the form out and mail to the Puget Sound Energy address included in the instructions.

City of Renton Utilities – Automatic Bill Payment Setup

1)      Go to www.rentonwa.gov

On the left side of the home page for Renton, there is a list of items. Under the Online Services heading there is an entry for Online Utility Bill Payment—ignore it. Instead, pick the orange site Index tab one the top right of the Home Page.

2)      Click on Utility Billing

The page that shows up shows Automatic Deduction as the third option. You can select the Direct Debit Application Form download either from the text or a short list of forms on the right side of the page.

3)      A PDF file pops up. Print two copies, one to send to the listed address, one for your files.

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