Staying on top of your utility bills — managing gas, water, and electricity bills across multiple logins and an endless paper trail — often feels like a thankless task. Ask anyone who’s spent some time without working electricity or heat, however, and you quickly realize the alternative isn’t all that appealing either.
Thankfully, Bill Planner and the Amazon app are here to help, providing one happy home for your utility bills and offering you the ability to view bill details, receive due date notifications, and pay using the information already stored in your Amazon account. And if you’re thinking “Sign me up,” we’ve got some good news — you’re already signed up. All you need to do is link your utilities to your Amazon app and you’re ready to tame those monthly hassles. Here’s how you do it.
Getting started
To get started with Bill Planner, open your Amazon app. Navigate to My Account, then Your Payments, and then Bill Planner. The providers in your area will populate when you enter your ZIP code. Enter the account number to your provider and then tap Add Utility. That’s it. You can now access those bills in your app, anytime. Just repeat this process for other applicable providers, if needed.
Once you’ve signed up on the Amazon app, you’re automatically signed up to use Bill Planner on Alexa — no need to link your accounts again.
Ways to pay
With the Amazon app
Now that you’ve linked your utility accounts to Bill Planner, you can use this one app to keep track of important bills. You can check for due dates, see your account balance, and speed through bill payments while keeping your personal information safe.
With Alexa
In addition to using your app, you can also use your voice to plan these bills. With an Alexa-enabled device, simply say, “Alexa, pay my electric bill,” and you’ll get started. You can also ask Alexa about your utility bill at any time and even receive voice notifications if it looks like you’re about to miss a due date.
With Amazon Pay at checkout
And, as always, you can look for the Amazon Pay button on your utility biller’s website, which will pull up your Amazon payment information, auto-fill the fields, and allow you to process payments with the security of Amazon Pay.
Notify me
If you’re like the rest of us, you worry about staying on top of due dates. Now that you’re using the Amazon app to plan bills, your phone can provide you with peace of mind. You’ll receive notifications on your phone, similar to a text push notification, alerting you when your payment is due or might be late.
You can also receive notifications from your Alexa device when your payment is due. When you see the yellow ring indicating new notifications, ask, “Alexa, what are my notifications?” Your interaction with Alexa will continue much like this:
Alexa: “One new notification from Bill Planner. Your electric bill from Nile Power is due tomorrow. To pay this now, just ask me to pay your electric bill.”
User: “Alexa, pay my electric bill.”
Alexa: “It looks like the current amount due for Nile Power is $72.14. Do you want me to pay this amount?”
User: “Yes.”
Alexa will confirm your payment amount, and Nile Power (or the utility of your choice) will be paid using Amazon Pay. You will also receive an email from your utility company with a payment confirmation number.
It’s all in the details
If you’d like to take a deeper look at your utility costs, you can also view your upcoming bill. Your Amazon app provides an easy way to compare your current balance with previous bills.
Learn more about planning your bills with Amazon and check to see if your city and provider are eligible.