Paying BPAY bills with amex?

DeadlySchnauzer · #1 (**permalink**) 13th July 2008, 10:37 AM

Recently signed up for a Qantas amex... actually been quite surprised at how widely accepted amex is

. The one thing that is frustrating me is the online account doesn't seem to offer any way to pay BPAY bills (where as my mastercard does).

Is this a general limitation of all AMEX cards? Does anyone know if theres a way to pay BPAY via AMEX (via phone, in person or?).

oz_mark · #2 (**permalink**) 13th July 2008, 10:45 AM

I don't belive amex participate from that side. Given the number of billers that won't accept cc card payments via bpay, it would be a fairly limited facility.

Maca44 · #3 (**permalink**) 13th July 2008, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeadlySchnauzer

Recently signed up for a Qantas amex... actually been quite surprised at how widely accepted amex is

. The one thing that is frustrating me is the online account doesn't seem to offer any way to pay BPAY bills (where as my mastercard does).

Is this a general limitation of all AMEX cards? Does anyone know if theres a way to pay BPAY via AMEX (via phone, in person or?).

I am slightly confused..if you want to pay a bill using Amex then payment details should be on the back page of the bill you are paying, or pay by billpost etc. It is my understanding, if you want to pay your Amex bill using BPAY then you have to use your on line banking so that the funds come from your bank account to pay the amex card. I pay the majority of bills with amex, (gas, elect, telstra, etc) and they can all be paid using amex. As I said, I am confused as to what you mean so excuse me if I have addressed things you are already aware of.

serfty · #4 (**permalink**) 13th July 2008, 11:20 AM

I can still pay many bills using Amex simply by using there service provider's web sites/automated payment phone numbers.

DeadlySchnauzer · #5 (**permalink**) 13th July 2008, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maca44

I am slightly confused..if you want to pay a bill using Amex then payment details should be on the back page of the bill you are paying, or pay by billpost etc. It is my understanding, if you want to pay your Amex bill using BPAY then you have to use your on line banking so that the funds come from your bank account to pay the amex card. I pay the majority of bills with amex, (gas, elect, telstra, etc) and they can all be paid using amex. As I said, I am confused as to what you mean so excuse me if I have addressed things you are already aware of.

My mastercard lets me pay all my BPAY bills directly from the mastercard online account and have them charge straight on to the credit card. This is obviously very convenient.

AMEX however does not let me do this. Instead i have to pay each bill by phone, the billers internet site or in person... whatever the specific biller requires for AMEX payments.

So in the end its a convenience thing. It just seems silly that i can pay these bills via AMEX by going through each billers individual procedures, but i cant pay them all from the one spot using BPAY.

Maybe im just too demanding after using mastercard only for so many years :P

Mal · #6 (**permalink**) 13th July 2008, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeadlySchnauzer

So in the end its a convenience thing. It just seems silly that i can pay these bills via AMEX by going through each billers individual procedures, but i cant pay them all from the one spot using BPAY.

With BPAY being owned by the 4 major banks (and a couple of smaller ones), I suspect there isn't much push towards allowing Amex to participate as a sender of funds.

oz_mark · #7 (**permalink**) 13th July 2008, 06:13 PM

There are about 170-180 financial institutions that you can BPay from, but to offer a full BPay service Amex would need to offer savings accounts and so on. They are not set up to do so (in Australia at least)

Billers such as Telstra (and many others) don't accept BPay from Credit Cards, so these would be an issue for anyone using Amex. The best they could do would be to treat it as a cash advance.

docjames · #8 (**permalink**) 13th July 2008, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by serfty

I can still pay many bills using Amex simply by using there service provider's web sites/automated payment phone numbers.

+1

Most billers that accept Amex will have an option on the back to pay by phone or on their own website etc.

pauly7 · #9 (**permalink**) 13th July 2008, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeadlySchnauzer

My mastercard lets me pay all my BPAY bills directly from the mastercard online account and have them charge straight on to the credit card. This is obviously very convenient.

AMEX however does not let me do this. Instead i have to pay each bill by phone, the billers internet site or in person... whatever the specific biller requires for AMEX payments.

So in the end its a convenience thing. It just seems silly that i can pay these bills via AMEX by going through each billers individual procedures, but i cant pay them all from the one spot using BPAY.

Maybe im just too demanding after using mastercard only for so many years :P

Why don't you just set them up as direct debits?

serfty · #10 (**permalink**) 14th July 2008, 09:05 AM

Personally, I prefer not to have direct debits; it places too much onus to make sure funds are available at the correct time lest you run the rick of incurring hefty penalties.

Also I have found that sometimes, the service provider jumps the gun by a day or a weekend; while it can be fixed it's a PITA.

Nup, more control is my motto; even if I know the 8+ digit account numbers of some of my stuff by rote ...