A Guide to Settling Child Care Fees with BPAY Payments
When it comes to paying child care fees, whether it be in full or subsidised through the Child Care Subsidy (CSS), BPAY is a convenient, secure and affordable option. With a recent change made by the Department of Education requiring child care gap fees to be paid exclusively through electronic fund transfers (EFT), chances are your child’s establishment already provides BPAY.
However, navigating this new change can be difficult and at PayChoice, we understand that as a parent, you can oftentimes be juggling priorities. We want to take away the stress of researching payment solutions for your child’s fees. That’s why we’ve provided a simplified guide to everything you need to know about BPAY as a payment solution for child care fees, and how you can securely make your gap payments through it.
What is BPAY and what are its benefits?
If you’ve never made BPAY payments, it can be challenging to grasp what exactly it is, and how it works.
An abbreviation of ‘bill payment,’ BPAY makes it possible to make payments through online banking. In other words, BPAY makes it possible for your bills to be paid, stored and viewed all in the same place through your online or mobile banking. A significant benefit of bill payments is that your payments are protected by your bank. Rest assured that you have an extra degree of security when you settle sensitive outflows through BPAY, as opposed to electronic payments made through third party sites.
Avoiding unnecessary fees when paying bills can go a long way, and BPAY ensures just that. Other than the convenience of having all your bills in the one place, a less obvious advantage may be that you can avoid late payment fees, with payments going through almost immediately (or up to 24 hours), as opposed to other EFTs. According to Family Day Care Australia, BPAY is particularly favoured to make child care gap payments by families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, as it is both efficient and trustworthy.
How to make BPAY payments: a step-by-step guide
To first make sure your child care accepts BPAY, look for the BPAY logo that’s often on the left-hand corner of your bill.
You’ll notice two codes next to the BPAY logo; a biller code and a CRN. Biller codes are unique to each institution and identify the payee to which your money is being sent, in this case your child care organisation. Below it you’ll find the Customer Registration Number (CRN), a code unique to you, the payer.
Now that you have both the biller code and your CRN, you can log into your online banking site or app and select the BPAY option.
After entering the two codes, you can select which account to pay your fee from given that you have sufficient funds in that account. You may choose to pay the outstanding amount instantly, or schedule an alternative date for it to go through.
Your bill has now been paid, with consideration that it may take up to a day for it to appear in your payee’s account. Conveniently, your details are also saved for your next bill.
Ultimately, BPAY offers convenience and security when paying bills such as your child care gap fees.
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