General Company Information
Please note that our e-fax service is officially decommissioned on 2nd July 2018. Please email us on support@billbuddy.com or chat to us on LiveChat Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm EST except Gazetted Public Holidays.
Yes, Bill Buddy is 100% Australian owned and operated. Our banking facilities are also provided by Australian Banks.
Bill Buddy was established in 2003 and was largely responsible for bringing competitive pricing to the market. Since our establishment our product range has grown to include Direct Debit, WebPay, Pay-by-Phone, and BPAY.
Our client base covers a diverse range of industries and business sizes. No business is too big or too small for us to service.
Bill Buddy has been operating for over seven years and in that time has built a reputation based on trust, honesty, and reliable service. For the last few years we have been sponsored by Westpac who conducted exhaustive checks on the Company and its Directors prior to providing transactional facilities. Under our arrangements with Westpac we are also required to fully comply with the Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS) as governed by the Australian Processing & Clearing Association (APCA). All online transactions are 1,024 bit encrypted and our systems and PCI DSS compliant. Bill Buddy also employs continually learning in-house anti-fraud systems to assist in identifying suspicious transactions or activity. The large number of Billers who have been using our services for several years without being locked into a contract is testament to our ability to provide quality services.
Bill Buddy has both a policy and legal obligation of reporting suspicious transactions to the authorities. Bill Buddy is also a reporting entity under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act (Cth) 2006.
Bill Buddy fully complies with the requirements of the Privacy Act and the National Privacy Principles. We make no differentiation between our personal and business customers, either. We treat all the information you give us as confidential. We will only make use of it to carry out our processes and procedures on your behalf, as required under the Privacy Act or in compliance with the requirements of the various government agencies that we work with. To avoid confusion, Bill Buddy must (from time to time) provide information to various banking bodies to ensure correct transactions are made and resolve any errors. These are standard procedures for payment transaction businesses and we may do this without specific reference to any other party.
Biller Related Information
If your application is completed fully it will typically be processed within one business day with successful applicants being able to use our facilities immediately after approval. If your application is urgent please bring this to our attention when you submit it. Applicants who have been approved for the use of BPAY will need to wait up to 10 business days to be established as a BPAY Sub-Biller in the banking systems.
Bill Buddy has daily remittances that typically occur on the second business day after the transaction. Be aware that some of our competitors hold the funds for longer periods before remitting them to you and only remit once a week.
No, Bill Buddy Billers are not locked into any fixed term contracts.
Yes. Billers have access to our secure Biller Portal where they can manage their customer payments including changing the amounts and dates of payments. Ad-hoc or one-off payments can also be created using this portal. Billers can of course also call our office to make changes to customer payments.
Bill Buddy provides comprehensive email based and online real-time reporting via the Biller Portal. This reporting includes customer payment statuses, payment histories, remittance histories, break-down reports of remittances, and downloadable CSV files. At no additional charge, Bill Buddy can even advise you by SMS when we make a remittance to you.
Yes, if you provide us with your logo Bill Buddy can provide a branded version of our Direct Debit Authority Form.
Yes, Bill Buddy’s system is capable of adding the transaction related fees to the transaction amount. This of course should only be done with your customers consent.
Customer (Payer) Related Information
To change the date or amount of your next payment you need to contact your Biller. Your Biller is the organisation that is providing you with the product or service that the transaction relates to. If the Biller approves your request to alter the payment amount or date they will advise Bill Buddy or make the update online. Please note that changes to the amount or date cannot be made on the day the payment is due.
To cancel the direct debit authority you must notify us in writing at least 1 week prior to the next payment due date. Please note that cancelling your direct debit authority does not necessarily cancel any contractual arrangements you have with your Biller and you may still have monies owing to them.
Queries relating to the product or service supplied should be directed to your Biller. Your Biller is the organisation that is providing you with the product or service that the transaction relates to. If you believe your Biller has acted fraudulently or been misleading please notify us.
Transactions conducted on behalf of Billers by Bill Buddy are done under the instruction of the Billers; therefore you should contact you Biller if you have a question regarding the amount of a transaction. Please be aware that in some instances your Biller may have instructed Bill Buddy to add its transaction related fees to the amount of the transaction. Your Biller is the organisation that is providing you with the product or service that the transaction relates to.
To change the account details for a direct debit you will need to complete a new Direct Debit Authority. To arrange for this simply contact Bill Buddy or your Biller.
You account will be debited on the scheduled date if that date is a business day. If the scheduled date falls on a weekend or national public holiday your account will be debited the next business day after the scheduled date. The transaction on your account may occur at any time of the day or night on the effective scheduled date and it is your responsibility to ensure you have sufficient funds in your account to honour the debit.
If you want to dispute a transaction you should firstly contact you Biller to discuss your concerns with them. If you are unable to contact your Biller or do not know what the transaction is for please contact Bill Buddy. If you are not satisfied with Bill Buddy’s decision regarding your dispute you should contact your financial institution and follow their transaction disputes process. Please note that a dispute should only be lodged with your financial institution if you have been unable to resolve the issue directly with your Biller or Bill Buddy.
Bill Buddy conducts transactions for many Australian businesses across many industries. If you see “Bill Buddy” on your statement and aren’t sure what the transaction is for please visit the Transaction Enquiry page in the Support section at www.billbuddy.com.au.
By signing our Direct Debit Request you acknowledge and agree to the following terms and conditions:
- You authorise Bill Buddy to debit your nominated account in the manner specified by your Biller. Your Biller is the organisation providing you with the product or service for which we are debiting your account.
- We will provide you with at least 14 days prior notice in writing if we propose to vary any of the terms of the debit arrangements in place between us.
- You should contact your Biller if you wish to defer or alter any of the debit arrangements.
- You will need to advise us in writing if you wish to cancel a Direct Debit Request. Such notice should be delivered to us at least one working day before the due date for payment or as otherwise stipulated in our Terms and Conditions.
- If you wish to dispute any Debit Item you should refer to us in the first instance and we will seek to resolve the matter with you. If we cannot resolve the dispute you can contact your financial institution at which your nominated account is held. Your financial institution will then commence a formal claims procedure on your behalf.
- Some financial institution accounts do not facilitate direct debits. If you are uncertain, you should check with your financial institution before signing a Direct Debit Request, to ensure that your nominated account is able to receive direct debits through the Bulk Electronic Clearing System.
- Before completing the Direct Debit Request, you should check the details of your nominated account against a recent statement from your financial institution, to ensure that your account details are correct.
- You agree that it is your responsibility to have sufficient cleared funds in your nominated account by the due date to enable payment of Debit Items in accordance with the directions of your Biller.
- We will initiate the Debit Item on the due date as advised by your Biller. If the due date for payment falls on a day which is not a business day in Queensland, then the Debit Item will be processed on the next business day. You should enquire directly with your financial institution if you are uncertain as to when the Debit Item will be processed to your account.
- If a Debit Item is returned unpaid by your financial institution, you authorise us to present a further debit for payment. Furthermore you authorise Bill Buddy to debit your account for our Dishonour Charge.
- We will ensure the details of your personal records and account details held by us remain confidential. However, if you lodge a claim in relation to an alleged incorrect or wrongful debit, it may be necessary for us to release such information to your financial institution or its representative, or to our financial institution or its representative to enable your claim to be assessed. Further, we will share certain personal information with our contracted agents for statistical purposes only. This does NOT include your bank account or credit card details.
© 2012 - Bill Buddy Pty Ltd ABN 31 106 055 181