ESB bill need to pay by credit card

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bond-007

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Is there anyway to pay a ESB bill by visa? ESB themselves refuse it. Are there any other methods to get the money from the CC to the ESB?

Do An post accept them in post offices?
 
hmm - never tried using my cc in the post office but I assume if it came to the worst you could make a withdrawl of cash from your credit card and use that?
 
Can you use online banking and select Visa account when given the choice of which account you want the payment to come from? I pay my ESB bill from my current account online but I am given a choice as to which account the payment is to come from, my Visa account being one of them.
 
Is this a change that the ESB have made? I pay my ESB by direct debit from my credit card and have done for years.
 
gipimann said:
Is this a change that the ESB have made? I pay my ESB by direct debit from my credit card and have done for years.
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You certainly can't pay in the post office...makes sense too. Why would they want the CC companies getting a percentage?
 
Like gipimann, I pay my ESB (and Phone) by direct debit through credit card.

You just fill in the direct debit mandate with the credit card details (iirc, the form wasnt' big enough to fill in the credit card number in the boxes, but just write the rest after the boxes on the same line).

The ESB and Phone bill arrive as normal, and state the date the payment will be taken from the CC.
 
Thanks for that bond, must be careful when I get my new Halifax card (with the free money!!)
 
If you pay your ESB by credit card do you not have to pay interest to the the cc company, very expensive way to pay for utility bills IMO.
 
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You don't have to pay interest if you clear the credit card bill before the payment due date.
 
so-crates said:
hmm - never tried using my cc in the post office but I assume if it came to the worst you could make a withdrawl of cash from your credit card and use that?
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Withdrawing cash incurs an immediate interest charge for you.

gipimann said:
You don't have to pay interest if you clear the credit card bill before the payment due date.
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Don't think this is correct. I withdrew a small amount of money from Visa in error and this incurred an interest charge. This is why only preloaded cards should be used for holidays.
 
I pay my BT account by dd from cc. I always pay full amount off cc and there is no interest, however if writing a cheque or withdrawing cash then unless the cc has enough preloaded to cover for the cheque/withdrawal then you pay interest on every purchase until you clear the full amount. even then there could be an overspill of interest ie say you had 200 of a bill which included €5 interest and it was posted on 1st of month. and you received it on 3rd and paid off full €200 on say 7th. there would be interest on the €200 from 1st until around 8th or 9th. and if you made any purchases that month then you will have interest on them as the account was never cleared fully. In this scenario it might be better paying of €210, thus definitely clearing the account before commencing using the card again.
 
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sueellen, just to clarify - When I said that no interest was payable on cc, I was referring to the specific point about paying interest if I pay my ESB bill by direct debit.

It is true of course that cash advances are treated differently.
 
So if you pay the ESB by credit card the ESB pays a fee to the CC company. 2.5 % is this correct? Can you get a discount from the ESB if you pay by cash or by DD from the bank? Also is it correct that the advantage to using the CC to pay is that you get a month's free credit? I'm trying to figure out the reason for using a CC to pay the ESB.
 
Bronte said:
I'm trying to figure out the reason for using a CC to pay the ESB.
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One of two reasons imo - you don't have the cash and need to use a cc or you do have the cash and want to use your cc as an effective money management instrument. Technically if you pay all regular bills such as Esb, phone, grocery, petrol etc. by cc each month, leave your wages/ salary on deposit , then when you get your cc bill clear it completely and on time using the money on deposit, you will have saved a few euro.
 
demoivre said:
One of two reasons imo - you don't have the cash and need to use a cc or you do have the cash and want to use your cc as an effective money management instrument. Technically if you pay all regular bills such as Esb, phone, grocery, petrol etc. buy cc each month, leave your wages/ salary on deposit , then when you get your cc bill clear it completely and on time using the money on deposit, you will have saved a few euro.
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Correct. :)
 
This is possible if you are set up for bill pay using internet banking. I have AIB and did it for curiosity one month. When you go to Pay Bill you get the option of which account to use and the visa card comes up as an option similar to the current account.
There is a further advantage to the free credit if you have a card that gives you cashback - an automatic 1% refund !
 
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