AEP Ohio is working to keep the power flowing and looking for ways to better serve our customers during these uncertain times. Through June 30, 2020, you can pay your electric bill with a debit or credit card online or over the phone with no added processing fees. 

If you need to make payment arrangements or have questions about your account, please reach out to our Customer Solutions Center at (800) 672-2231.

For more information on resources and assistance, visit AEPOhio.com/COVID19.

98 responses to “Credit & Debit Card Processing Fees Suspended

    1. Hi Mark, we offer a number of payment options in addition to Billmatrix. Customers can pay in person at authorized pay stations, mail payment in, set up automatic withdrawals, and e-bill customers can use their checking or money market account to pay for free online. Hope this helps!

        1. Hi James. Apologies if this article caused confusion. Processing fees were temporarily waived last year due to COVID-19 – this ended June 30, 2020. It is possible to avoid transaction fees by enrolling in paperless billing, payments made from your bank account (ACH) will not incur the $1.85 fee. To enroll, log into your account at AEPOhio.com/Paperless.

  1. Nice of you to not charge me a fee to pay my bill ONLY through June 20, 2020. You should make that a permanent change, then I would consider paying it that way all the time, just like I do for my Columbia Gas bill, and my Verizon bill, and my WOW bill. If I have to pay a fee to pay my bill, I’ll just send you a check for the price of a postage stamp.

    1. Hi Cecilia, thank you for writing in. Helping our customers during this pandemic is important to us, which is why we’ve worked with our Billmatrix partners to temporarily suspend the $1.85 fee for the service they provide. We appreciate your feedback as we continue to do our best to improve our customer experience. Ultimately, this decision would be up to our partner, Billmatrix.

      1. One thing surprising to me when I move here to Ohio is that I get charged to pay my electric bill a fee you are the only company that does this why is that ????

        1. Hi Pamala. Thanks for your question. We offer a number of payment options, not just Billmatrix. Customers can pay in person at authorized pay stations, mail payments in, set up automatic withdrawals, and ebill customers can use their checking or money market account to pay for free online. We hope at least one of those options is convenient for our customers.

  2. I would be glad to pay my bill online if I didn’t have to agree to paperless billing. I prefer to have hard copies of my statements for my files in case I might need to refer back to them in the future.

    1. Hi Leslie, you can still pay your bill online even if you receive a paper bill. You can visit AEPOhio.com/Account to access your bill to pay. Thank you!

  3. I have been paid my bill thru “auto withdraw form bank account”, can I change to pay with credit card for now, and then swatch back to “auto withdraw from bank account”, few months late.

    1. Jeffrey, our automatic withdrawals only work through using actual banking info like a checking account or money market account numbers. You can pay monthly with a credit card using Billmatrix but it wouldn’t be an automatic payment. If you have anymore questions, please let us know. Thanks.

  4. when you make a charge to a credit card part of autopay I will be glad to use this option but since it is only till June forget it.

    1. Hi Nelson, I understand your decision and appreciate you writing us. We will be sure to pass on your comment to our team as we work to provide the best customer service. Thank you.

  5. Thank you for doing this, I will call on Friday May 15 to pay my bill with my debit card. Seeing there is no fee.

  6. Hello, I was wondering if the money for debit fee would be credited to my account? I wasn’t given the option before paying or at least it never responded in that manner when payment was made.
    Thank you
    Ms.Janice Edwards

    1. Hi Janice. Sorry for any confusion about this change. The Billmatrix fees were suspended starting May 1 for residential customers. Give us a call at 800-672-2231 and we can take a closer look at your account history and try to help.

    1. Hi Judi. Yes, our customers are still able to use autopay. Let us know if you need anything else!

    1. Hi Adrianna, thank you for your feedback. We’ve worked with our Billmatrix partners to temporarily suspend the fee for the service they provide. We will take your comments and pass them on to our partners at Billmatrix.

    1. Hi Terry, I appreciate your feedback. We have worked with our partner, Billmatrix, to waive the fee for our customers during this time. I pass on your comments to our partners as we work to provide the best service for our customers.

  7. You should make no fee charge permanent

    NO CREDIT CARD FEE A PERMANENT PRACTICE
    IT MAKES LIFE EASIER
    THIS WILL GET YOUR PAYMENTS FASTER

    1. Hello, thank you for your feedback. We will pass your comments on to our partners, Billmatrix, who will ultimately makes the decision on fees.

    1. Hi Jack, I’m sorry to hear that. When accessing Billmatrix through our website the fee is stated several times throughout the process of making the payment and prior to finalizing the payment. Currently it shows $0.

  8. This is greatly appreciated! However, a lot of businesses do not charge a fee for bill processing. It would be helpful to always waive this fee. Thanks again!

    1. Hi Beth, thank you for reaching out! We appreciate your thoughts and will be sure to pass your comments on to our partner.

    1. Hi Chelle, I am sorry to hear that. We will definitely look into this situation. If you need anything else, please let us know. Thanks.

    1. Hi Alice, through June 20, all credit or debit fees will be waived when paying your bill through Billmatrix. Thank you.

  9. This is the first I heard that there will be a fee when I use my debit card to pay my bill. How un business like for AEP. Just how do you plan that we pay our bills? I pay from my CME bank account on line, do not take that away.

    1. Mardell, I am sorry to hear that. We have stated online if you pay with a debit card, there will be a fee. Except, currently it says $0. However, if you pay online with your bank account, there is no fee.

  10. I already made my payments on my two homes will i get my fee back for this month,i just paid my bill a week ago and was charged for using my credit card. Thanks

    1. Hi David, I would like to connect you with a representative that could help you resolve this issue. Please call us at 1-800-672-2231 and a representative will be able to speak with you. Thanks.

  11. Wow as if 1.75 or whatever the amount is yo process a payment is under $2.00 like what is that going to do for customers…..absolutely nothing! I can buy 1 gallon of gas with that…yip-eee I’m flattered!

    1. KC, I appreciate your comments and understand the situation. I will be sure to pass on your feedback to our partners as we work to provide you with the best customer service. Thank you.

  12. Glad to see that you are doing this. I use autopay to a credit card for nearly every one of my monthly bills from all my vendors/service providers WITH NO ADDED PROCESSING FEE. You must like to have the added cost of handling my paper check each month. I find it to be a nuisance but I don’t want to pay your extra fee. You should make this a normal payment option with no additional fee all the time.

    1. Hi Walt, I appreciate your feedback and will pass your comments on to our partners at Billmatrix. We also offer a other payment options in addition to Billmatrix. Customers can pay in person at authorized pay stations, mail payment in, set up automatic withdrawals, and ebill customers can use their checking or money market account to pay for free online.

  13. Do you mean that I have been charged a processing fee to go paperless? Is there a charge if the payment is made by standard mail? If I have misunderstood this, my apologies. If not, I find this to be absurd.

    1. Good news, Lou: There is no fee for paperless billing! Nor for payment by mail (excluding postage, of course).

  14. If you would make this a permanent thing, I would pay my bill as soon as I receive it. It’s your move! Thanks.

  15. Well I think that this discount should have been offered back in March at the earliest & April at the latest. I had called back in April and asked what AEP was doing for its costumes in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, “ there will be NO termination of service.” Nothing about reduced pay or deferred payments or NO fee for over the phone payments. So I just had to take the stance myself and send in the mail what I could afford, and go from there. Most people will still need help well past June, just bc the states are lifting stay at home does NOT mean everyone is going back to work, and so MONEY is still going to be limited. And as for unemployment that takes weeks (like 6 to 8) and once they give the all clear to go back to work you have to and they STOP your benefits. Finally, is it that big of a deal to a company like AEP to take payments over the phone and NOT charge a FEE. I could go on and I understand there are cost for the machine if your a small business and even if your a larger business like yourselves, their are other businesses that I deal with that DO NOT charge a fee to process a payment by phone. Thank you for reading all this if you did, I believe it is important to hear just what your costumers think.

    1. Thanks, Ryan. You’re absolutely right: It’s important to hear from our customers and we are doing our best to listen. We are trying to help during a very challenging time and are continuing to monitor what we can do moving forward to support our communities and our customers who live there. Be safe!

  16. Thank you for this consideration. It made it easier during these times! Even mail can be difficult if you can’t get out for stamps.

    1. Hi. The Billmatrix fees were suspended starting May 1 for residential customers. We’re happy to take a look at your account — give us a call at 800-672-2231.

    1. Hi! Good question. Any payment made using Billmatrix through June 30 will not incur a fee. This includes payments made with electronic checks.

  17. Wow!!! I didn’t realize you changed me to pay my bill. Unbelievable, anything to make money off your Customers. In the process of that, act like you’re doing us a favor not the charges for one month.

  18. Will the payment still be made via bill matrix? AEP is the only utility or business that I deal with that requires additional money to pay bill on the phone. Bill matrix is the worst system to deal with. It cuts out, usually near the end, requiring another call and more numbers to get through the process. Maybe this would be a good time to try the process and cut out the middle man. Bill matrix is a horrible service. Just my 2 cents worth!

    1. Thanks for the feedback, Brian, this is helpful. We are considering options as we work to make our customer experience as easy and convenient as possible.

    1. Ross, you shouldn’t be charged a fee when you make a payment with a debit or credit card online or over the phone. If you have any problems, give us a call at (800) 672-2231.

  19. There never should have been a charge for processing in the first place. People spend their hard earned money to pay the bill, some sacrificing food to keep the lights on, and you have the unmitigated gall of charging a processing fee to add insult to injury.. That is simple being greedy and your bosses should be ashamed of themselves.

  20. I just started paying my bill online. You ordinarily charge a processing fee for paying your bill online? I guess after the end of June I will go back to sending in a check for my payment. That is ridiculous.

  21. I don.t know what this is. AEP has always deducted my budget amount automatically every month, which the have for May. I am confused.

    1. We would be happy to explain this, Jo Ann, if you have questions. Please give us a call at 800-672-2231.

  22. Thank you for giving us this opportunity! I would always use this payment method if it were available to us, without fees of coarse.

  23. Nice offer – thank you. Curious, what is the processing fee AEP normally charges for credit card payments?

    1. Hi Mark, our processing fee through our partners, Billmatrix, is $1.85. Let us know if you need anything else. Thank you!

  24. I wish you had let me know this before my bill was due yesterday, May 14. Since I didn’t know, I still had the monthly inconvenience of writing out and mailing a check instead of taking advantage of this opportunity. I write a check because I refuse to pay a monthly fee to pay a utility bill electronically. I pay all my bills online….no credit company, business or utility that I deal with charges a fee for this payment method (bank account deduction or credit card payment). While it’s nice of you to offer this free service thru June, I believe this fee should be eliminated completely and I’ve asked customer service about this in the past. I hope you will consider doing so, thank you.

  25. I had to use BillMatrix a few weeks ago and was not impressed. I made a simple error on the checking account number and paid for it big time. No, it was not an overdraft, but I didn’t see a digit in the number. Now, I can’t use Auto-pay for several months. Not happy!

  26. AEP
    Just need to understand this I’m already paying through auto paid with my debit card for all my bills. I ‘ll been paying my billed this way for over 20 years. I hope I can keep paying my bill the way I’m doing now. Thanks

  27. Shocking in a good way. I’m going to pay my bill this month and next using your partner Bill Matrix (and here’s hoping maybe he’ll change for good). Thanks again, AEP.

  28. Why are payments processed through a third party, Billmatrix? ? Why not direct to Visa, Mastercard, etc.? There should not be an extra fee to process with credit card.

    1. Thanks for your note, Paul. Billmatrix is used for only one type of bill payment, so we encourage customers to explore other options if they would prefer that.

    1. Hi Jackie. Billmatrix is used for only one payment option. Customers can also pay in person at authorized pay stations, mail payment in, set up automatic withdrawals, and ebill customers can use their checking or money market account to pay for free online.

  29. Although I appreciate the no fee till June, I would like to see no fee brought in permanently.

    1. Hey Lori. We’re happy to look into this if you’ve already paid your bill. Please call us at 800-672-2231.

  30. Bill Matrix and AEP/PSO are scam artists. I made a payment online to my account using a debit card. Then I made a payment over phone to my friend’s account; which was disconnected for -$12 balance. Both payments processed immediately and I was notified. Hours later I was notified of pending purchase of $21.85 from PSO/Bill Matrix.; this transaction was not requested nor approved by me. I guess when my card paid on more than one account, THEY seen an opportunity to “help themselves” to last of my unemployment money. Called PSO which transferred me to Bill Matrix automated system. I was given option to make payment by entering account # or hearing option again. I wonder how many people are UNKNOWINGLY RIPPED off by these scam artists. Like it’s not bad enough they spike your bill,force you to Power Pay, “keep deposit money”, and never charge actual tariff rate for electricity. The rate per kilowatt is different EVERY DAY and MORE you use, the less you pay per kilowatt. If usage is LOW then you are charge HIGH rate per kilowatt. What a way to reward consumers for SAVING energy, especially during an “EMERGY CRISIS”. Then they blatenly rub our noses in it with the news headlines boasting about their profit margins. Wonder who REALLY OWNS AEP/PSO? I pray for something to get their grid completely! Then we can all build tesla coils and save the planet.

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