Bill Payment Maintenance
The Bill Payments feature of Simfonie enables Subscribers to make immediate or scheduled payments to Merchant Billers established in Simfonie.
Merchants that issue bills on a regular basis, (e.g. Telecom Company, Water Company, Electric Company, etc.) can be established in Simfonie and classified as a "Biller".
Simfonie Subscribers have the option of making ad hoc or one time payments to a Merchant Biller and/or set up a Bill Payment Template to use in scheduled recurring payments.
You can use Bill Payment Templates to:
- Select a template from a list presented on your mobile phone to make an immediate bill payment.
- Select a template to define a bill payment schedule to make regular/scheduled payments to a Merchant Biller. In this case, Simfonie will automatically pay the bill on the due date you specify.
The Subscriber can use the same templates for both scheduled or immediate bill payments.
In addition to the above, Subscribers also have the option of initiating a bill payment without using a Bill Payment Template. This is a "Free Form" bill payment wherein a Subscriber can just select a Merchant to pay from a list of Merchant Billers established in Simfonie. However, this method of bill payment requires a Subscriber to enter additional data that is similar to the data captured in a Bill Payment Template, e.g. Payment Instrument, Payment Amount and Account Number with the Biller.
The Maintain Bill Payments Screen displays a list of your bill payments setup in Simfonie. From this screen, you can view a list of your bill payments, search for a particular bill payment record, view, create and maintain details of a bill payment, and generate a report of bill payments in CSV, Excel, or PDF format.
Click here to display descriptions of the field and functions on the Maintain Bill Payments Screen.
The following table lists the fields and functions that may be displayed on the Maintain Bill Payments Screen.
Field/Button
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Description
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Enables you to search for a Bill Payment Template by entering data in the search fields which will be used by the system to perform the search.
You must enter data in at least one of the search fields to perform a search.
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Enables you to clear all search fields and search results; that is, all search fields and search results are cleared from the screen.
To clear the search results after performing a search:
- Click the
Clear button to clear all fields and search results. - The screen is refreshed, allowing you to perform a new search.
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Enables you to add a new Bill Payment Template in Simfonie. Click this button to display the Bill Payment Details Screen which enables you to define the details of your bill payment.
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Enables you to delete an existing Bill Payment Template in Simfonie. Select the check box of the Bill Payment Template you want to delete and then click this button to delete it.
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Enables you to exit the Bill Payments Screen and go back to the Subscriber Hub.
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Search Fields
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Payment Instrument
Enables you to search for Bill Payment Templates by Subscriber Payment Instrument. Select the Payment Instrument name to find a Bill Payment Template.
Biller
Enables you to search for Bill Payment Templates by Biller. Select the Merchant Biller name to find a Bill Payment Template.
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Sort Criteria
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Display search results according to your preferences. Select the field on which you want to sort and then select the order in which you want the results to be displayed, ascending or descending.
Alternatively, you can sort the results without performing another search, by clicking a sortable column heading to change the sort order from ascending or descending. Sortable Headings are underlined in the table heading and the order (ascending or descending) is indicated by an arrow to the right of the column name.
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Search Results
Search results are displayed below the search fields. The following table lists the information displayed in the results pane.
Field
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Description
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Reference
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Displays the Subscriber's own personal reference for the Bill Payment Template. This appears on the Subscriber's mobile phone when making an ad hoc bill payment.
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Biller Name
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Displays the name of the Merchant Biller that will be paid by the Subscriber through Simfonie.
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Account Number
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Displays the Account Number of the Subscriber with the Merchant Biller which is referenced during the bill payment process.
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Payment Type
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Displays the amount of payment defined by the Subscriber for the Bill Payment Template:
- Minimum Amount - This option enables the Subscriber to pay a minimum or lesser of the value specified on the template and the amount returned by the billing system.
- Fixed Amount - This option enables the Subscriber to pay the amount specified on the template.
- Pay In Full - This option enables the Subscriber to pay the full amount returned by the billing system, if required.
If Fixed Amount or Minimum Amount is selected, the amount of money to be paid needs to be specified.
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Amount
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Displays the actual amount of payment defined by the Subscriber for the Bill Payment Template. This is only displayed for Fixed Amount and Minimum Amount payments.
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Payment Instrument
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Displays the name of the Payment Instrument defined by the Subscriber for the Bill Payment Template.
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Next Payment
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Displays the date when the next payment is due which is based on the initial payment date and payment frequency defined by the Subscriber for the Bill Payment Template.
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To view existing Bill Payments
- Click the
Bill Payments link from the Subscriber Hub. The Maintain Bill Payments Screen is displayed. - Select the
Payment Instrument or Biller associated with the Bill Payment record from the drop-down lists, if you want to find and display Bill Payment records by Payment Instrument or by Biller name. - Alternatively, just click the
Search button to display all the Bill Payments currently setup.
To add a new Bill Payment
- On the Maintain Bill Payments Screen, click the
Add button. The Maintain Bill Payment Details Screen is then displayed. - Enter the required data on the fields.
- Click the
Enable Schedule check box to setup a scheduled Bill Payment and define other settings for recurring payments. - Click the
Enable Reminder check box to setup a Bill Payment reminder and define other settings for payment reminders. The payment reminders are sent to your handset via SMS Message. - Click the
Save button, Simfonie performs checks to ensure all data entered is valid. - If validation fails, an error message is displayed advising the error.
- If successful, the new bill payment template is added and displayed on the Maintain Bill Payments Screen.
Please refer to Maintaining Bill Payment Details for more information about maintaining Bill Payments templates.
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