Every month we receive a bill for our electricity, water, internet, and more. With all the expenses that we have to deal with every month, even the smallest of bill payments seem to hurt. We might be wondering, is there a way to save or earn money while paying the bills?

For several years, I have always been paying most of our utility bills through online banking using my debit card. It’s easy, convenient, and free of charge, but that’s it. I mean, it does its job paying the bill online, but I don’t get any cashback, rebate, or anything.

Gladly, after doing some research, I found out that there are actually several exciting cashback offers that we can avail to save or earn extra money while paying bills.

There are so many platforms that offer online bill payment option and in return offer us cashback, rebates, virtual coins and other offers as well. Below are a few platforms that will help us save a little money when we are paying a bill.

Apps That Offer Rewards for Bill Payments

1. Shopee

I just learned recently that we can already pay our bills through Shopee. What’s even more surprising is that we can also earn Shopee Coins when paying bills which we can use in two ways:

1. We can use Shopee coins as a discount to any order at Shopee including bills payment.
   • 1 Shopee Coin is equivalent to ₱1 discount off our purchase.
2. We can also use Shopee Coins to redeem vouchers or in-app activities within the coin’s reward page.

I took advantage of Shopee’s ongoing promo and here are the bills that I have paid on Nov. 19 through ShopeePay and the Shopee Coins I earned.

1. PLDT Internet Bill – 300 Shopee Coins
2. Meralco Bill 1 – 150 Shopee Coins
3. Meralco Bill 2 – 100 Shopee Coins

I earned a total of 550 Shopee Coins after paying my bills on Shopee using ShopeePay as the payment method.

How I Used My Shopee Coins to Get Discount on Other Bills

Today is Nov. 25 and I paid our water bill worth ₱2,000. Upon checkout, I got an option to redeem a maximum of 200 Shopee Coins which is equivalent to ₱200 discount from my water bill payment.

Instead of ₱2,000, I only paid ₱1,800. Salamat Shopee! 🙂 

Aside from the ₱200 discount, I also earned additional 40 Shopee coins for my bill payment transaction today. I still have 390 Shopee Coins in my Shopee Coins Wallet which I can redeem on my next Shopee orders or bills payment transactions.

If you don’t have a Shopee account yet, you may download the app from App Store if you have an Iphone or from Play Store if you have an Android phone, then sign up and enter my Referral Code: RICAM748 to get ₱100 off your first order and start getting Shopee Coins.

How much is the service fee  when topping up ShopeePay Account?

I topped up my ShopeePay account through BPI Online Fund Transfer, and I found out that the service fee is ₱12 for every top-up transaction. And since I topped up 3 times, I spent a total of ₱36 for my bills payment transactions.

My Tip: If you’re trying ShopeePay for the first time and if you are planning to pay all your bills through this platform, I suggest you top up your ShopeePay account with the total amount of your bills so that you can save money on fund transfer fees.

How much is the transaction fee for bills payment in Shopee? 

As of this writing, Meralco and Manila water have zero service fees, while PLDT has ₱7 service fee as indicated in the Shopee Biller Guide List.

However, upon checking my transaction history in Shopee, there was no transaction fee for my PLDT bill payment. It means all my bills payment transactions were free of charge.

When will my payment be credited?

All bills payment transactions are forwarded to the biller within 24 hours. However, payments are only posted within 2 business days.

I paid my bills on Nov. 19 (Thursday). It was posted on Nov. 24 (Tuesday).

My TIP: Pay your bill at least 2-3 business days before the due date. Click here for other FAQs related to Shopee Bills Payment.

How Do I Pay Bills on Shopee?

If you’d like to try paying your utility bills on Shopee, you may follow the steps below. But before you do that, I suggest you check the current PROMOS first to know if you can earn coins from your bills payment.

Step 1: Go to the Load, Bills & eServices Product Module, then tap Postpaid Mobile, Landline & Internet, TV Cable, or Water.

Step 2: Select Biller and add necessary details, then tap Continue.

• Postpaid Mobile
• Landline & Internet
• TV Cable (Prepaid and Postpaid)
• Electricity (Prepaid and Postpaid)
• Water

Step 3: Select the preferred payment method, then tap Confirm. (Note: You may earn Shopee Coins if you select ShopeePay as your payment method.)

Step 4: Claim and use applicable vouchers to earn Shopee Coins.

Step 5: Tap Pay Now. Once payment is successful, you will receive your order details.

You may visit Shopee’s FAQ pages for more info on bills payment.

How Do I Contact Shopee Customer Service?

• Chat through Shopee Mobile App – responds within minutes, available 24/7 Live
• Email through Shopee Website – responds within 1-2 days
• Shopee Hotline 02-8-8805200

2. Coins.ph

Besides helping you save time, paying bills online using Coins.ph helps you save money too.

You can receive a ₱5 instant rebate for every unique bill you pay. If you pay 5 unique bills in 1 week, you’ll get an extra ₱100. Rebates will be credited into your peso wallet.

Coins.ph occasionally have promos where you get additional incentives when you pay a bill.

3. Paymaya

You can get ₱50 Balik Bayad every month when you pay your PLDT bill, Smart Postpaid bill, and Sun Postpaid bill using PayMaya from August 1 to December 31, 2020.

For updated bills payment promos, visit PayMaya’s website.

If you want to have your own PayMaya account, you may download the PayMaya app from App Store if you have an Iphone or from Play Store if you have an Android phone, then sign up and enter my Invite Code: 2FVIKQ9.

4. GCash

GCash occasionally offers cashback and rebate promos for bills payment. However, as of this writing, there are no ongoing promos on GCash for paying bills.

If you want to have your own GCash account, you may register through my GCash Referral LINK.

Credit Cards That Offer Cashback for Utility Bills

1. Security Bank Complete Cashback Mastercard

Security Bank cashback credit card offers 3% cashback on utilities. The maximum rebate that you can earn is ₱12,000 per year.

You may also earn cashback on other transactions: 5% on groceries, 4% on gas, 2% on dining, and 1% on shopping.

2. Citi Cash Back

Citibank cashback credit card offers up to 2% rebate on Meralco bill payments through Citibank Online banking facility or Citi One Bill for automatic payments. The maximum rebate that you can earn is ₱12,000 per year.

You may also earn up to 6% cashback on groceries and 0.20% cashback on all other purchases.

3. UnionBank Gold Mastercard

UnionBank cashback credit card offers a 1.5% rebate on your utility bill payments and all other transactions. There is no maximum rebate cap and the cashback doesn’t expire. You can redeem it anytime and get unlimited savings.

4. Metrobank Rewards Plus Visa

With this Metrobank Rewards Plus visa credit card, you can earn 1 rewards point per ₱20 spend on utilities (such as PLDT Home, Globe, and Smart) enrolled in the Bills2Pay program.

You can also earn 2 rewards points per ₱20 spend on telco bills (such as mobile postpaid, landline, and home internet services) and all other purchases.

5. HSBC Red Mastercard

You can earn 4x bonus points per ₱20 spend on online transactions, including bills payment using your HSBC Red Mastercard.

You can easily settle your utility bills payments for billers like PLDT, Globe, Sun, and SkyCable through the HSBC AutoCharge and earn bonus points, with a limit of up to ₱100,000 per transaction.

You may also earn 6% on your first Caltex fuel purchase, plus 3% cash back all year round.

6. Citi Rewards Mastercard

Paying bills using the Citi Rewards credit card allows you to earn 1 point per ₱30 spend.

Citi One Bill charges and bills payment via Citibank Online or the Citi Mobile App, also earn points up to certain transaction limits.

You can also earn 3x points per ₱30 spend on shopping, dining, and Cebu Pacific flights

7. RCBC Flex Gold Visa

The Flex Gold Visa allows you to earn 1 rewards point per ₱250 s pend on your utility bill payments. You can also get rewards on payments for bills enrolled in the Fast BillsPay facility. You can enroll Meralco, Manila Water, PLDT, Smart, Globe, Cignal, and Sky Cable for auto-charging.

You can also earn 2x points per certain spend on any three of your chosen categories (grocery, gas, travel, department store, or household appliances). 1 point per ₱50 spend on other non-service merchants and per ₱125 spend on service merchants

For more details about the Best Credit Cards for Bills Payment in the Philippines, read this article by Moneymax.

5 Smart Ways to Pay Your Utility Bills

Once upon a time paying utility bills on time was a task, not only for working professionals but also for stay at home moms like me. One had to visit the local office and stand in queue to pay utility bills, credit card bills, and so on. And often keeping up with the last date was hard resulting in a penalty.

Do you miss out on last payment days of your utility bills?

Well, there are now many smart ways to help you pay your utility bills efficiently using technology. Today ‘online’ backed by hi-speed internet connection has made life easy.

• It saves time;
• It saves energy (otherwise spent on commuting and waiting in queues to pay utility bills);
• It saves money (on commuting, plus you benefit from cashbacks and rebates);
• It offers convenience;
• It has virtually eliminated many errors (with efficient processes & systems built); and
• It facilitates you to be in better control of your personal finances

Here are 5 smart ways to pay your utility bills online:

1. Internet banking

Internet banking is a convenient way to bank anytime and anywhere for all Savings and Current account holders. With internet banking, you need not create a separate log in. You can just log in to your internet banking account and directly make an online payment to your biller.

2. Mobile banking 

Your smartphone is a smart tool, if used effectively. With a Mobile Banking App installed on your smartphone and registration completed, banking is literally at your fingertips. It empowers you to do much more like paying various utility bills, make travel plans, shop, invest, avail loans, manage your account, make a cheque book request, and so on.

The best part is you can earn cashbacks, rebates and reward points as you make payments.

3. Debit Card

Your debit card linked to the savings account is also a medium to your utility bills. It is convenient and can be used across biller sites. You don’t need to carry wads of cash to pay the monthly outgoings for the utility bills.

Certain debit cards offer cashbacks while you pay particular utility bills, which aid you save money as you spend.

 4. Credit cards

Like debit cards, you can also use your credit card to defray utility bills. Using the credit card allows you to use the free credit period up to 30 days, earn reward points (which can be utilized to purchase select merchandise), and avail of exciting cashback or discount offers (which help you save money).

5. Mobile wallets

With a worthy mobile wallet, today your smartphone is virtually a wallet. You don’t need to carry wads of cash, as the concept has been widely accepted across points of sales and services.

Many mobile wallets have integrated utility billers, facilitate online shopping, and enable travel booking among other things at your fingertips, anytime and anywhere. They run compelling cashbacks/discounts offers which you can’t afford to miss.  

Keeping a track of your money online is not a concern because mobile wallets provide an instant accessible statement/passbook option so you can be in complete control of your personal finances.  There’s also an option to transfer the idle money from your mobile wallet to your bank account.

Final Thoughts

While using these smart ways to make utility bill payments, monitor your expenses closely and spend on necessities only. Set a calendar with alerts to pay your utility bills on time and in full to earn rewards and cashback.

Remember, every peso saved is a peso earned. Go beyond saving money on your bills. Earn some too!

READ NEXT: 

• Practical Ways to Save on Electricity and Lower your Meralco Bill
• How to Save Money on Groceries