On November 11th, Canada remembers the courage and dedication shown by members of the armed forces. As we pay tribute to the sacrifice and honour of so many, we observe a moment of silence on November 11th, at 11am month across the country.
Lest we forget.
Telpay will be closed on Remembrance Day to honour Canadian Veterans and those serving in the military . Please view our Holiday Funding Schedule to ensure your payments are deposited on time.
Have you ever noticed that credit card statements have a payment due date that sometimes falls on a weekend? If so, were you uncertain if you had to pay that bill well in advance of that weekend? Well, it certainly can be confusing!
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada states the following:
“No matter how you pay, if the payment due date falls on a weekend or holiday, payments made on the next business day have to be accepted as having been made by the due date”.
Just for fun, I read my own BMO Mastercard cardholder agreement (yes, I have time on my hands!) and it gives the same message. For example, when the due date is Saturday or Sunday then the payment must be accepted “on time” if the credit card company receives payment on Monday.
Here is where it can get a bit slippery. It is important to understand what is meant by “making the payment on a certain date”. It means that the credit card company must receive your payment remittance on that date. When paying electronically via your financial institution or bill payment provider, it’s always a good idea to verify the exact date of when your payments are remitted to the credit card company. Even though you make a payment on a Monday, it may not be submitted to the company until Tuesday (or even later). So, if you make the payment electronically on the due date, you may be assessed late charges, as the payment will “arrive” the next business day. If you are using snail mail or courier then obviously it’s best to pay quite early.
Incidentally the same timeline applies for CRA payments, be careful though as penalties for late CRA payments are stiff.
Every year the CMHA-MB honours and celebrates the victories of people who live with the effects of mental illness. Heroes’ awards acknowledge the many contributions made by individuals, organizations and business to the advancement of mental health. Continue reading
Give it up for Marilyn Benninger for being honoured with the Institute of Professional Bookkeepers of Canada (IPBC) Distinguished Service Award.
For over 20 years, Marilyn Benninger CPA, CGA has been a dynamo in the accounting field. She has a stellar reputation for her ethics, professionalism and outstanding dedication to promoting tools and technology for the accounting field. Her wealth of experience includes public speaking, media relations, project management, strategic planning and not-for-profit organization leadership.
You would think, with the development of online technology and instant access to account information, that all electronic transactions would take place in real time. So why, when you pay a bill electronically, does it take at least the next business day for the payment to be credited to your account?
There are two steps when remitting an electronic bill payment to a payee. The payee’s bank account must be credited with the funds and the remittance information (your name, account number and the amount you paid) must be forwarded to the payee.
In most cases these are two independent steps and both have to take place before your account can be credited. There is rarely a direct channel between a bill payment service provider and a payee (one exception would be a financial institution and their “in-house” credit card). That means an arrangement has to be made between a payment provider (i.e. Telpay) and the payee so that a mutually accepted method of sending and receiving the remittance information is in place.
Often this exchange is done overnight or at a certain period during the day. The payee also has to reconcile the remittance information to the amount credited. For example, the payee receives $10,000 worth of bill payment remittances. They will need to verify that amount has been credited to their bank account. They would also update their internal databases with the remittance information before your bill is officially “credited”. That can create another delay.
Until the processes are in place for “instant” bill payments, there will be a bit of a lag between you making the payment and when your payment is actually credited. It’s something to take into consideration when making payments.
