Published: January 21, 2021 | Updated: January 22, 2021 | Posted by: Moneymax | Personal Finance
Hate rushing between different banks or offices to pay your bills? Or maybe you loathe dealing with overdue bills and disconnection notices? Good thing bills payment centers are accessible to Filipinos who need to settle their utility, government, and credit card bills all at the same time.
These one-stop bills payment facilities are located in malls, supermarkets, convenience stores, and commercial buildings in cities, and even in remote towns. Not only can you do your shopping and perform other errands, but you can also save a separate trip just to pay off bills.
Additionally, bills payment centers also provide other financial services such as money remittance, money exchange, e-loading, and airline ticketing. So instead of making a trip to your nearest Meralco bayad center or Converge payment center, for example, you can just go to a bills payment center.
Certainly paying bills online is the faster option, but there are still a lot of people who prefer to pay bills in cash or check over-the-counter. So if you’re one of these people, these are some bills payment centers that you can go to before your next due date.
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This is the largest payment center in the Philippines with more than 12,000 branches[1]. You can find Bayad Centers in malls, supermarkets, rural banks, pawnshops, and select Ministop branches nationwide.
To make bills payment even more convenient for customers, Bayad Center also launched a mobile app. With this app, you can pay bills anytime and anywhere using your smartphone.
However, the app is still useful for customers who prefer to pay over-the-counter. It can send you a reminder for your due dates and show you the nearest branches. So that’s quite helpful if you don’t want to miss a payment.
Operating hours vary per location. However, most branches are open Mondays to Fridays from 8 am to 5 pm. Others are open as early as 7 am on weekdays. Some locations also operate on weekends and holidays, usually Bayad Center branches inside malls.
All Bayad Center offices accept cash payments. Some branches also allow payments via check or credit card.
Service charges will vary depending on the biller or on the amount. So prepare to add PHP 5 to PHP 15 as service fee whenever you pay your bills at any Bayad Center.
Read more: How to Easily Compute Your Meralco Bill and Electricity Consumption
Regular pawning and money remittance customers of Cebuana Lhuillier can also easily pay their bills at any of its 4,000 branches nationwide.
All Cebuana branches are open seven days a week. Their business hours vary per location, with some opening as early as 7 am or closing as late as 9 pm.
The pawnshop has six branches that are open 24 hours daily in Makati City; Imus, Cavite; Angeles City, Pampanga; and Olongapo City, Zambales.
Is it your first time to make a bills payment at Cebuana Lhuillier? If you want to know how to pay your Globe bill via Cebuana Lhuillier, for example, refer to the following steps:
ECPay is an electronic payment service provider with more than 9,000 bills payment centers in convenience stores, supermarkets, malls, pawnshops, money remittance centers, and rural banks all over the Philippines, including the following:
Read more: Simple Steps to Check and Pay for Your Maynilad Water Bill Online
Facebook photo by Jam Manalo
The SM payment center is also a very convenient option for busy professionals who can only pay their bills after office hours or on weekends. Just go to any SM bayad center located in the following:
The bills payment counters at SM malls open daily (including weekends and holidays) at 10 am. The cut-off time is 8 pm.
All SM Bills Payment counters accept cash and check payments, depending on the biller. For example, Cignal TV allows check payments, while BPI requires only cash for paying credit card bills.
Photo from Robinsons Business Center Facebook page
Besides SM, mall-goers may choose to pay bills conveniently at a Robinsons business center inside Robinsons malls. Located in all Robinsons Department Stores nationwide, you can pay your bills any day from 10 am to 7 pm.
Aside from remittance, shipping services, e-commerce and business solutions, you can also go to the nearest LBC branch for your bills payments. There are over a thousand branches nationwide, some of which are located inside malls and near offices.
Most LBC branches operate from 8 am to 5 pm or 9 am to 6pm daily.
Read more: Top Remittance Centers and Money Transfer Services in the Philippines
Water: Aqua Centro, Balanga City Water District, Bulacan Water, Bulakan Water, Calasiao Water, CDO Water, Countrywide Water Services, Dagupan City Water District, Dinalupihan Water District, First Peak
Electric: Batangas I Electric Cooperative 1 (BATELEC1), Cagayan Electric Cooperative, INC. (CAGELCO1), CASURECO2, Cebu Electric Cooperative, INC. (CEBECO2), Cebu Electric Cooperative, INC. (CEBECO3), CENPELCO, Cagayan Electric Power & Light Company, INC. (CEPALCO), Davao Del Sur Electric Cooperative, INC. (DASURECO), Dagupan Electric Corporation (DECORP), First Bay Power Corp
Cable TV: Asian Vision Cable, Binangonan Cable TV Corp, Central Luzon Cable, DCTV Cable, Eagle Vision Inc., Easy TV, Excel Cable, Fil Products, Galaxy Cable Corporation, General Trias Cable
Internet: Now Corporation, Bicore, Woofy, Integranet Network Services, Converge
Telco: General Telephone System Inc., Sun, Smart, PLDT, Globe, Bayan Telecommunications
Credit Cards: BPI, Metrobank, Robinsons Bank, Security Bank, AUB
Government: BIR, DFA, DTI, Marina, MYEG PH, NBI, Pag-IBIG, PEZA, SSS, PRC
Insurance: Forest Lake, Insular Life, People’s General Insurance Corporation, Pami Insurance, Medicard, Connext Marketing, Celestial Meadows, Paramount Life and General Insurance Corporation, Cocolife, AXA
Aside from paying at different online payment channels and apps, you can also pay over the counter at any Meralco business center.
There are over the counter payments at the following partner banks as well:
If you’re paying your Meralco bill at a bills payment center, bring your billing statement and fill out a payment slip. Because bills payment centers usually have just one payment slip for all types of payments, make sure to write the correct reference or account number and biller name.
In addition, provide a contact number in case there are issues with your payment validation.
Lastly, hand over your payment slip and cash payment to the cashier.
Do keep in mind that unlike paying at a Meralco business center, payments made at bayad centers are usually posted the following day or in 2 to 3 days.
Read more:
It’s still quite convenient to pay at bills payment centers. Also, some post payments in real time, while some take two to three working days.
For this reason, make sure to pay your bills at least three working days before they’re due to ensure timely posting and to avoid missing your due dates.
For example, if your bill is past due and you already have a disconnection notice, you should pay directly at the branch. Instead of going to 7-Eleven or Bayad Center to pay for your overdue Meralco bill, you should pay at a Meralco payment center instead. Payments are posted real time. It’s important to make your payment before service disruption takes place.
Now that you know where these over the counter bills payment centers are located, you can budget your money and pay each bill accordingly.
Source: [1] Bayad Center Branch Directory
With a goal to help Filipinos lead healthier financial lives, Moneymax regularly publishes tips and tricks on personal finance and lifestyle, among many other topics. For more finance-related news and articles, follow Moneymax on Linkedin.