How to Use Google’s Bill Payment Reminders

In this fast-paced world we all have enough to worry about without having to stress about our bills. Keeping dates and pay schedules organized can feel like an overwhelming responsibility. Luckily, this worry can be a thing of the past. Google offers a bill payment reminder feature that sends alert notifications when payments are due. It’s like having your own personal secretary to keep you up to date so you can free your mind for more important business matters or simply relax!

The feature is pretty simple to set up. You can either do it manually or automatically. Here, we’ll briefly explore both options and what you’ll need to do.

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Manual Setup

For those who are still receiving bills through the mail, paper notices, or are making regular payments that are not generated through electronic statements, a manual setup is required to receive alerts. An example of this would be your monthly rent payments to your roommate or landlord. Since the bill would not be generated online, you’d have to do a quick one-time setup to enter all of the necessary information.

• From the Home Screen, tap the Google search bar.
• Type the nature of the reminder, beginning with “remind me” (i.e. “Remind me to pay the rent”) and press “enter.”
• Fill out the form that appears on the screen. So, if your reminder should be recurring, select the appropriate time and “repeat.”

Automatic Setup

Auto setups are best used for bills you get via email. For instance, credit card statements, Internet, phone, or utility bills, and so on. The reason these qualify for Automatic setup is that Google can draw from the information given using data readily available from your Gmail account. Important note: You’ll want to have a Gmail account!

• Launch the Google App (unless you’ve moved it, it will be located on your Home Screen).
• If you haven’t already set up the app “Google Now,” you will be prompted to do so before getting started.
• Select the left menu, then “Settings” from the options listed.
• From there, you’ll find an option to select called “Your Feed.”
• Scroll down to find the “Bills” option.
• Set the Bills toggle to “on” (the toggle is blue when on).

Once set up, as bills come in you’ll begin to receive pop up alerts about pending payments. You’ll also find them in your Google Now feed.