Bill presentment

What is bill presentment?

Bill presentment is an online system that allows customers to receive and view their bill on a computer, and then pay the bill electronically. Users can pay their bills immediately and the money is transferred directly from their bank account.

Deeper definition

As a process, bill presentment involves a company or person sending a bill or an invoice over the internet to the customer, subscriber or client to view before electronically paying the bill. While presentment is a process through which one party bills another party online, a third party, the bank, pays the amount to the biller.

To be sure, this makes the process of sending and paying bills and invoices convenient and efficient.

Bill presentment is commonly used by mortgage lenders and utility providers, and serves the same purpose as a paper bill, but there is no paperwork involved. Once the bill is submitted, the customer receives it through a secure website or by checking his or her email. Then, the customer pays the bill.

In addition, bill presentment enables consumers to pay several billers simultaneously by working with a bank — a process known as online bill pay or online banking. Here, the customer specifies the date for payment and the amount that will be paid from an online bank account.

Bill presentment example

Justin is an employee who wants to make his loan payment to EFG Co., but due to a work commitment he cannot go to the bank in person. The most convenient way to pay the loan is to have the company send him the bill through his email, where he checks it and completes the payment by submitting it online.

He does this instantly with a mouse click, and the same amount is debited from his bank account. The system of viewing a bill online and then paying it is referred to as bill presentment.