Frequently Asked Questions – Online Bill payment services

How secure is my sensitive banking information and personal information? How can I know that this information will not be intercepted?
How do I know when a secure session has been created?
What is an appropriate browser?
Why are only some versions of browsers supported?
What forms of payment do you accept?
What is the cut-off time for posting a payment?
How quickly will my payment be applied to my account?
Do I have to provide my e-mail address?
Will you send me a confirmation of my payment?
What information will I need to enroll in on line bill payment?
Can I set my account up for re-occurring payments?
Will I be reminded before my payment is due?
Will I still receive a paper bill in the mail?
Can I look at someone else’s MLGW account information?
I moved.  How do I add my new account number to my existing UserID?
What information is used in the “How Does My Home Compare" scale chart?
How often is information in My Account updated?
Why is my bill not listed?
Why do I have two bills issued in the same month?
I tried to use My Account and got an error message.  Now what do I do?
What if I still have a question?
Why did I receive a payment reminder after I paid my bill?
I’ve moved away.  How do I stop receiving My Account emails?
Can I change my UserID?
Is my online bill the same as a printed bill?

Q:How secure is my sensitive banking information and personal information? How can I know that this information will not be intercepted?
A: The On Line service uses the following security features:

• SSL: We use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) that ensures your connection and information is secure.
• Encryption: We strictly enforce 128-bit encryption security levels for users accessing this service. All users accessing this service must ensure that their Web browsers are set to enable 128-bit encryption.
• Automatic Sign Out: We automatically sign you out after 20 minutes of inactivity.

Q:How do I know when a secure session has been created?
A: Most of the supported browsers will give you a message box stating when you are going into a secure session. For instance, in Internet Explorer, on the bottom right side of the browser window, when there is a secure session in place, there is an icon that looks like a small padlock, with the lock closed. Another indication that your browser is operating in secure mode can be found in the web site address. The address will begin with 'http://' in standard, non-secure mode and with 'https://' in secure mode. The 's' in 'https' stands for secure.

Q: What is an appropriate browser?
A: We use 128-bit encryption to make your information unreadable as it passes over the Internet. Please click on following link to see a list of currently supported browsers. (Link)

Q:Why are only some versions of browsers supported?
A: To help ensure that your confidential financial information is protected in transit, we encrypt all messages between your browser and the On Line service. Some browser versions do not support the needed levels of encryption.

Q:What forms of payment do you accept?
A: We currently accept payments from Bank checking and savings accounts and Visa or MasterCard credit and debit cards, Discover credit card, and ATM debit card.

Q: What is the cut-off time for posting a payment?
A: Any payment submitted after 4:00 p.m. Central Time will be processed the following day.

Q:How quickly will my payment be applied to my account?
A: Payments will be applied to your account within one hour after you submit your payment.

Q: Do I have to provide my e-mail address?
A: Yes.  E-mail address are required for enrolment in the on line bill payment service.

Q: Will you send me a confirmation of my payment?
A: Yes.  An e-mail confirmation will be sent to the e-mail address you provide.

Q:Can I set my account up for re-occurring payments?
A:Yes.  You can elect to have your account payments automatically withdrawn from your designated account when due.

Q:Will I be reminded before my payment is due?
A: Yes.  If you choose the reminder option in your profile, you will receive an e-mail reminder five days before your due date if you have not made a payment on your bill through the on line service.

Q:Will I still receive a paper bill in the mail?
A: Yes.  You do not have to be on paperless billing to use the service.  MLGW would like you to select paperless billing as an option.  Reducing paper helps the environment.

Q: Can I look at someone else’s MLGW account information?
A: Yes, but only if they allow you by providing the necessary information to enroll that account under your username and password. This flexibility enables you to help parents, children and others analyze their billing changes. For businesses and organizations, it allows multiple authorized people to track information about energy use and costs at your facilities. With multiple accounts under one username, when you login, you then will need to select which account you wish to see in the My Account session.

Q: I moved.  How do I add my new account number to my existing UserID?
A: Login to My Account and click the My Accounts tab. Then click on the button that says "Add Account". Follow the screens to enter your new location's 16-digit MLGW account number and 6-digit My Account Access Code. Then, you can keep or delete the account number for your previous address.

Q:What information is used in the “How Does My Home Compare" scale chart?
A: Normally, we recommend that customers don’t compare their utility bills with neighbors, since there are large differences in home size, age, equipment/ appliances, number of occupants and lifestyles. The “How Does My Home Compare” bar chart is the exception—because it uses energy costs for area homes that are of similar size, age and equipment. This approach allows you to make a more accurate comparison.

Q:How often is information in My Account updated?
A: My Account is comprised of several software applications, with different updating schedules. Billing and payment information is updated nightly. Information on energy cost per unit is updated weekly, which means for customers whose bills are produced in the first few days of the month there could be a small delay between when your bill is accessible and when the application has the effective Fuel Cost Adjustment and Purchased Gas Adjustment data to trigger those cost change highlights.

Q:Why is my bill not listed?
A: Information from your MLGW bill is posted to My Account the day that the bill is produced. In certain rare situations, your MLGW bill will not appear in the list of bills available on My Account.  For example, if your bill was manually corrected before being sent, it did not go through MLGW's bill printing process and, therefore, its information was not exported into the web applications. These manual-intervention processes affect less than 1% of the 20,000 bills MLGW produces each day.

Q: Why do I have two bills issued in the same month?
A: There are two possible reasons for this-length of billing cycle or need for a corrected bill. First, check to see if one bill date is very early in the month and the other is very late in the month. Then, check to see if there is a bill listed for the previous or next month. (For example, if you see bills dated 6/30/06, 8/1/06 and 8/30/06, the 8/1/06 bill is the bill showing your July usage.) If that is not the case, you may be viewing an original bill and a corrected bill that was issued shortly afterwards. Although the corrected bill supercedes the original bill, the original also is maintained in the database so you see both online.

Q: I tried to use My Account and got an error message.  Now what do I do?
A: First, use the Sign Out link in My Account to end your session, then close your Internet browser and try again. (This really does work most of the time!) If the problem persists, contact our Customer Care Center (residential customers) or Commercial Resource Center (businesses and organizations). In your email or call, provide thorough details about the error message you received, the Internet browser and version you used, your computer type (IBM or Mac), the error message content, what screen you were on and what you were attempting to do when you encountered the error. The representative will alert our programmers, who will investigate to resolve the issue.

Q:What if I still have a question?
A: My Account is designed to be user-friendly for self-service convenience but, if you need assistance, contact our Customer Care Center for residential customers (901-544-6549), or our Commercial Resource Center for businesses and organizations ( 901-528-4270), and they will refer you to the appropriate staff to handle your needs.

Q: Why did I receive a payment reminder after I paid my bill?
A: You can select to receive payment reminders 5 days before and/or 5 days after your bill’s due date, by checking options under My Profile.  The application scans for electronic payments made through My Account and, if no electronic payment is found, issues a reminder email.  Payments made through other channels—including checks, at Community Offices and through online banking—are not recognized during this process.  If you receive a payment reminder after having paid your bill, check the My Payments link to verify receipt, then ignore the email.

Q:I’ve moved away.  How do I stop receiving My Account emails?
A:If you no longer need access to your MLGW data, contact MLGW’s Customer Care Center (residential accounts) or Commercial Resource Center (businesses and organizations) and request that your UserID be deleted.  If you still want access to the data, but don’t want emails, login and change the preferences under My Profile.

Q:Can I change my UserID?
A: No.  Once you have registered a UserID, the UserID cannot be edited—so type carefully and verify before you submit.  Everything related to your UserID can be changed at any time, including: password, contact information, email preferences, MLGW account number and payment information.  Simply login and access the appropriate screens.

Q:Is my online bill the same as a printed bill?
A: Yes.  MLGW produces an electronic version of your MLGW bill and posts it online in PDF format, where it can be opened with free Adobe Acrobat Reader software.  Bills can be downloaded and stored electronically or printed and filed, based on your needs.  My Account makes MLGW bill retrieval so easy that more than 40,000 customers have cancelled their printed bills to save paper and time.