You can set up bill payments any time of the day or night, any day of the year -- and even set up recurring bills to be paid automatically. All you need is a computer with access to the Internet and a compatible browser

As you review this User's Guide, there are a few terms you will want to be familiar with. Payees are the people or businesses to whom you want to make payments. For example, a payee can be the utility company, or an individual. Whether you pay electronically, write a check, or use a credit card, the person or business who receives your money is the payee.

When creating a payment, the payment date or start date is the date your payment is due to the payee minus the number of business days it takes for the payment to be processed. The payment date is used for single and multiple payments, while start date applies to a recurring payment.

When creating a recurring payment, the end date is the date that the recurring payments are scheduled to end.

Today payments are those entered with today's date as the payment date. Payments with today's date entered later than 12:00 pm Central Time, any day of the week, will be debited from your account at the conclusion of that Bill Pay session. Processing of the payment, however, will take place the next business day. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays are not business days. Bill payments scheduled with today's date cannot be canceled or changed once the Bill Pay session is terminated.

Single and multiple payments can also be entered with a future date. These payments will be deducted from your account on the future date.

Recurring payments are pending payments scheduled to be paid on a regular basis from your account at a future date.

Pending status refers to a payee that is in the process of being established. You may schedule a payment for a pending payee, but additional 'Days to Pay' may be indicated until all the payee information is verified.

Available status refers to a payee that has been established and is available to receive payments.

Business days are weekdays (no Saturdays or Sundays) unless that weekday is a federal holiday. For the purposes of Bill Pay services, the following are holidays:

New Years Day
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Presidents Day
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day

Columbus Day
Veterans Day
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day

If a federal holiday falls on a Saturday, it will not be observed on any other day. If it falls on a Sunday, it will be observed on the following Monday.

How Bill Pay Works
When you use Bill Pay, your payment is made electronically, if possible. If the payee cannot receive an electronic payment, the payment is made by paper check and mailed to the payee. An electronic payment takes up to 2 business days to reach the designated payee, while a paper check takes up to 5 business days to be received and processed by the payee. Your payee list indicates the number of business days you need to allow for processing.

Electronic bill payments appear on the Scheduled Payment screen as soon as they are entered, and are listed as today, future or recurring payments, depending on how you have set them up. The payment is deducted from your account on the date that is entered in the date column. This date needs to be either 2 or 5 business days prior to the day your bill is due to your payee. For the exact number of business days needed, refer to your payee list.

Logging In
Follow these steps to log on to American Bank's online Bill Pay system and pay your bills.

1. Access the Internet.


2. Go to our website: www.americanbank.com


3. Click on Login to Bank OnLine & Bill Pay, located in the upper left hand corner of the home page. (If you have already registered to use the Bill Pay system).


4. Once you have logged in to your Bank Online, click the Bill Pay Tab to access your Bill Pay. (you will not be required to enter any additional user name or password info)

Developing and Maintaining Your Payee List
Your Payee List consists of anyone you want to pay using American Bank Bill Pay and can include up to 500 different payees. A payee can be any business, organization, or individual anywhere in the United States with the exception of federal, state or local governmental or tax agencies, or for child support or alimony payments.

Once your registration has been processed and you receive your Welcome Kit, you can set up your Payee List.

Important: You can add or change payee information at any time. Keep in mind, however, that it can take up to 3 business days to process this information, and during that time you can schedule payments to this payee, but additional 'Days to Pay' may be necessary until all the payee information is verified.

Adding Payees
Before creating your Payee List or adding new payees, find your recent bills and make a note of each account number and the payee's billing address and telephone number.

1. Click on Payees on the Button Bar to access the Payees screen.


2. Select either Option A, to choose from a frequently entered payee, or Option B to enter one of your own.
3. If you chose Option A, enter name as it appears on your account, your account number and a nickname for this payee (the name you will see on your bank statement).
4. If you chose Option B, enter the following information in the appropriate fields:

• Payee name

• A nickname for the payee (this is the name you will see on your bank account statement)

• Payee's payment address

• Payee's telephone number

• Account number

• Name on the account

• Payee type

• You can also enter any information about the payee in the Comments field that can help with your payee set-up

5. Click on Add Payee and note the confirmation number that appears on the screen. It is your electronic receipt.


6. You can now schedule a payment for the new payee, review your payee list or add another payee.

Changing Payee Information
You can change payee information at any time, for example, when your account number for a payee changes or you want to assign a new nickname to a payee.

1. From the Button Bar, click on Payees. The Payees screen appears.


2. Click on the note pad button next to the payee you want to change. The Change Payee screen appears with the Payee Name field already filled in.


3. Make any desired changes in the Nickname and Account Number fields, and then click on the Submit Changes button. Note the confirmation number that appears on the screen; it is your electronic receipt.


4. Click on Continue to go back to the main Payees screen.

Deleting Payee Information
You can delete payees that you no longer want on your Payee List. However, you cannot delete a payee on the same day a payment is scheduled for that payee or before all scheduled payments have been made for the payee. If you need to delete a payee and have scheduled payments to that payee, first delete the scheduled payments and then delete the payee.

1. From the Button Bar, click on Payees. The Payees screen appears.


2. Click on the trash can button next to the payee you want to delete. The Delete Payee screen appears.


3. Review the payee information to ensure that you want to delete this payee, then click on Delete Payee. Note the confirmation number that appears on the screen; it is your electronic receipt.


4. Click on Continue to go back to the main Payees screen.

Paying Bills
You can make payments to anyone on your Payee List, excluding state and government agencies, the IRS and court ordered payments. Payments can be made from any American Bank checking account that has been set up on the American Bank Bill Pay system.

The Days to Pay column indicates the number of business days necessary for the payee to receive payment. For electronic payments to payees, it takes up to 2 business days. For those payees that are not capable of receiving an electronic payment, a paper check will be cut and sent to the payee. A check payment takes up to 5 business days for the payee to receive and process the payment. When entering the payment date in a payment screen, deduct the number of days to pay from the due date on your bill stub or invoice and enter that date. Remember not to count holidays or weekends as business days!

Important: When scheduling payments, be sure to provide enough time between the scheduled date of the payment and the due date of your bill. All payments to Available payees take either 2 or 5 business days to get to the payee. If you have entered a new payee and the payee status is "Pending", you may schedule a payment for the payee, but it may take up to 8 days for the payment to get to the payee. For example, if you have a bill that is due on March 31 and it requires 2 business days for processing, you need to schedule the date of the payment for March 30th or earlier. Business days do not include holidays, Saturdays or Sundays. The number of days before the payment will be made (days to pay) is displayed on the Payee Detail screen.

1. From the Button Bar, click on Payments. The Scheduled Payments screen appears with a list of scheduled payments for your Bill Pay Account.


2. To make a payment, select the type of payment (single, multiple or recurring):
• Single payments are individual or one-time payments, and can be scheduled for today or for up to one year in the future.
• Multiple payments allows you to pay up to five bills or schedule up to five individual payments at one time.
• Recurring payments allows you to schedule payments to be made automatically for bills with fixed payment amounts, such as mortgage or auto loans.




3. Select a Payment Date.

   (You can use the interactive pop-up calendar to select the date. Click on the small calendar icon at the right of the date field.)


Using Today's Date

By default, the Payment Date, Start Date and End Date fields on the single, multiple or recurring screens are automatically filled in with today's date.


Payments with today's date entered after 12:00 p.m. Central Time will be debited from your account at the end of that Bill Pay session but will be processed (or sent to the payee) on the next business day. For a payment with today's date, the day that you enter as the payment date should not be counted when you are determining the number of business days needed to pay.


For example: If you set up a payment today (and it is Thursday, March 16), and end your session before noon, your account is debited when you end the Bill Pay session and the payment to the merchant is sent today, March 16.If you initiate a payment on Thursday, March 17, after noon, your account is debited at the end of that session but your payment is not sent to the merchant until Friday, March 17. If Friday, March 17 happens to be a holiday, your payment would be sent on Monday, March 20.



Using A Future Date

Your account will be debited on the date you scheduled the future payment for, and your payment will be sent that same day unless it is a Saturday, Sunday or holiday (a non-business day). If it is a non-business day, the debit to your account will still be made and your payment will be sent on the next business day. In calculating when to schedule a future payment, remember to subtract the number of business days required to pay.



For example: You log into Bill Pay on Monday, August 16 and schedule a future payment for Wednesday, August 18. Your account will be debited on Wednesday the 18th and your payment will be sent that same day, if the 18th is a business day. If it is not a business day, your payment will be debited on Wednesday the 18th, and sent on the next business day.



Recurring Dates

For a recurring payment, click on Recurring, then click on the Recurring field to specify how often you want the payment to be made (for example, weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual). Select the date of the first payment to be made by clicking on the Start Date field and entering a date. Enter the date of the last payment by clicking on the End Date field and entering a date. You can begin payments anytime up to one year in the future and end them up to 40 years later.



Recurring payments work the same way as future-dated payments: the debit occurs and the actual payment is sent on the scheduled date unless that date is not a business day. In that case, your account is debited and the payment is sent on the next business day.

4. Click on the Paid To field and select the payee for the new payment.


5. The Paid From field indicates the account you will be paying from and the balance of that account.


6. Select the payment amount.


7. Click on Submit Payment. If you are using the Multiple Payments screen, you must click on the checkbox at the left of the payment before submitting. The checkbox is a safeguard to prevent you from entering a payment by mistake. Review each payment instruction for accuracy, then click on the checkbox.


8. Note the confirmation number.


9. Click on Continue to see your scheduled payment on the Scheduled Payments screen.


10. To see more information about the selected payee, click on the Payee Detail button on the Single Payment or Recurring Payment screens.The Payee Detail screen appears with the payee's nickname, name, account number, and number of days required to process the payment (days to pay).


11. To see information about past payments to this payee, click on the Show History button.The payee history screen appears with the date, description, and amount of each payment.

Note: On the Scheduled Payment screen, payments are listed in order of date, and only the first date of a recurring payment appears on the list. You can click on the column headings to sort the information by date, payee, type or amount.

Changing Scheduled Payments
You can change the dates and amounts for payments that you scheduled earlier in the same online session or in a previous session. You can change payments with today's date as the payment date, however, only during the same session when you make them. If you need to change the Paid To field for a scheduled payment, you must delete the payment and then make a new payment to a different payee. For a scheduled payment that is in the future, you have until midnight of the night before the scheduled payment date to delete the payment or make changes to the payment.

1. From the Button Bar, click on Payments. The Scheduled Payments screen appears.


2. From the list of scheduled payments, click on the note pad button to the left of the payment you want to change.


3. The Change Payment screen appears with the Paid To field already filled in. As appropriate, enter the new date and the amount of the payment.


4. If you selected a Recurring payment, the Change Payment screen appears with your recurring payment information. Click on All Payments to change all scheduled payments to this payee. Click on This Payment Only to change the next scheduled payment. When the Change Payment screen appears, select a new date and/or amount.


5. Click on Payee Detail or Payee History for more information about the payee.


6. Click on the Change Payment button and note the confirmation number that appears on the screen; it is your electronic receipt.


7. Click on Return to go back to the Scheduled Payments screen. Any changes you made appear on the list of scheduled payments

Note: If you selected a recurring payment and changed This Payment Only, the changed payment appears separately in the list of scheduled payments with either today's date or a date in the future.

Deleting Scheduled Payments
You can delete payments that you scheduled earlier in the current bill pay session or in a previous session.

1. From the Button Bar, click on Payments. The Scheduled Payments screen appears.


2. From the list of scheduled payments, click on the trash can button to the left of the payment you want to delete. The Delete Payment screen will appear. A summary of information for this payment is presented for you to review before deleting it.


3. If you selected a Recurring payment, the Delete Payment screen with your recurring payment information appears. Click on All Payments to delete all scheduled payments to this payee. Click on This Payment Only to delete the next scheduled payment.


4. When the Delete Payment screen appears, click on Payee Detail or Payee History for more information.


5. Click on Delete Payment and note the confirmation number that appears on your screen; it is your electronic receipt.


6. Click on Return to go back to the Scheduled Payments screen. The deleted payment no longer appears on the list of scheduled payments.

General Information

Ending a Bill Pay Session
To properly end a Bill Pay session, click on the Exit button in the upper right hand corner of any screen in Bill Pay.

Changing Your Password
You can change your Bill Pay password at any time by following the steps below:

1. Once you have logged into Bill Pay, click on the Profile tab and then select "Password".


2. Enter your old password.


3. Enter the new password. (Passwords must be a minimum of eight characters long, and contain only numbers and/or letters. No punctuation marks or special characters can be used.)


4. Enter the new password again for verification.


5. Click on Submit Changes.

To return to the previous screen without changing your password, click on your browser's Back button or the Cancel button.

Using Bill Pay Online Help
In addition to this User's Guide, you can consult the online help feature that is part of the Bill Pay system. To access it, click on Help located in the upper right-hand portion of any Bill Pay screen.

You can also contact Bill Pay Customer Service by e-mail or phone as described below.

Customer Service - Message Center

The Messages option gives you a direct and secure link to Customer Service. Unlike regular Internet e-mail, these messages are protected by encryption and verification technology. Your confidential information cannot be intercepted by unauthorized persons.

Click on the Messages button in the upper right hand corner of the Bill Pay screen. You will see the number or new messages you received since your last online session. You have the option of reading the message or sending a new message.

Sending Messages:

1. Click on the Messages icon, then click the Send Message button. The Send Mail screen appears.


2. Enter the subject of your message in the Subject field, then enter the content of your message in the Message field. Be sure to include all payment information for inquiries about completed transactions. This includes the payee (Paid To), the funding account (Paid From), the account number, scheduled date, amount of the payment, and the confirmation number.


3. Click on the Send Message button and note the confirmation number that appears on the screen. This number is your electronic receipt.

You can also contact Bill Pay Customer Service with a payment inquiry toll free at 1-877-632-9222. Assistance is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week except for certain holidays.

Reading Messages:

1. New messages from us are displayed when you log in. If there are new messages, you can click on the option to Read Now or Read Later. To read your messages, click on the Messages icon and then click on the Read Mail button. The Read Messages screen appears with your first message.


2. After reading a message, you can reply to it by clicking on the Reply button, to the next message by clicking on the Next Message button, or close the message and return to the Message Center screen by clicking on the Return to Mail button.

Note: You can return to a prior message by clicking on the Back button of your browser.

Mail messages are not saved from session to session. If you want to keep a record of your messages, use your Web browser to send them to your printer or save them as text files.

Customer Service - 24 Hour Bill Pay Call Center
Bill Pay Customer Service is available 24-hours, 7 days a week. They are available to help you every day, except for the following holidays: New Years Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

To contact Bill Pay Customer Service by phone, call 1-877-632-9222, toll free.