I dread the end of the month because it means two things: invoices need to be tallied and sent to our clients (business), and bills need to get paid (personal and business). While I recognize the importance of each, they feel more like chores and both require me to sit in front of my laptop performing what I consider to be brain-numbing, mundane tasks. Some people love crunching numbers, but I’ll never get it. Each time the invoicing is sent and bills are paid, I feel like popping a bottle of champagne.
This month, however, paying our bills—hydro, internet, cellphones, and credit cards—was breezier than usual. No, I didn’t start meditating and have some existential revelation that, wow, I actually love tracking our life expenses! My attitude is still pretty blasé when it comes to finance-type things, but I was introduced to an app that’s changed my bill paying process, and in a way, my life.
Paytm is a mobile app that took about 20 seconds to download to my phone, and seven minutes to attach my various utility and financial institution accounts. Now, instead of navigating to and logging into several different websites—Telus Mobility, Telus Communications, BC Hydro, three different banks—I open one app on my phone and all of my bills, along with upcoming due dates for each, are presented in one neat and tidy scrollable package.
Each bill is clickable, so I can view the amount due and then tap another button to pay off the owing balance. There are a few ways to pay, like attaching a credit card or bank account, or by visiting a Canada Post and have them loading cash onto the app using a QR code. I did the latter as I was curious about the process. (Spoiler alert: incredibly simple.)
So far, I’ve paid about $250 in bills through Paytm, which has been convenient, but what’s even more impressive is that the app rewards you. It turns bill payments into a game, and you know what? I love games! For completing a task that I had to do anyway (or wind up with bad credit, no thanks), I am then gifted with points that can be redeemed for gift cards and used at a handful of actually useful retailers like Amazon, Esso, Hotels.com, Just Eat, Indigo and Tim Hortons, all of which are crucial to frequent travellers like us.
Each dollar paid towards a bill equals one point, and new users are gifted 500 in welcome points. Points can also be converted into what the platform calls Paytm Cash, which can be put towards future bill payments. (We should probably put the cash towards future bills, but filling up the van with free gas is pretty appealing, too.)
There’s also this new feature where I can set the date, amount and frequency that I want to pay each future bill. It’s handy when we’re travelling, but also useful for busy small business owners like myself.
Currently I’m feeling a little fomo for all of the points I could’ve earned had I started using the platform sooner. At the beginning of the year, I paid our van insurance and tenant insurance in a lump sum–imagine the points that could’ve been mine had I paid through the app!?
While there’s nothing I can do to recuperate long lost points on past bills, one thing’s for sure: the end of this month is looking a little bit brighter thanks to a more fluid way to pay bills. Maybe we’ll even plan an extra road trip this fall with the gift cards we’ve earn.
This post is sponsored, but all thoughts and opinions written here are our own.