Melio is the easiest app to make any payments or send checks for your bills. It is a free app to do payments or receive payments. It’s convenient to send payments from one business to another.
You only pay fees per transaction with the following breakdown:
- Bank transfer (ACH): Free
- Paper checks (first 2 checks are free each month): $1.50
- Credit card payment: 2.9% fee
- Debit card: 2.9% fee
- Same-day bank transfer: 1%
- Expedited check delivery: $20
- International USD transfer: $20
You can receive bank transfers or credit card payments without charges at all. However, in case you need to get the payment on the same day, it will charge 1% which is quite low compared to other services on the market.
Who should use Melio? Small to medium-sized business owners who feel overwhelmed by the number of checks and paperwork they must do and look for a time-saving solution.
Who is the best fit to use Meilo?
Small to medium-sized business owners who feel overwhelmed by the number of checks and paperwork they must do and look for a time-saving solution. Highly recommended for any business looking for an easy-to-use app for payment processing.
Melio users are using QuickBooks or Xero as they can sync the data between each software to make collecting and receiving payments quick and smooth.
It’s also a perfect option if you can’t pay your vendors/contractors with a credit card, as Melio delivers the payment as a bank transfer.
If saving time and reducing errors in financial record-keeping is one of your priorities, then Melio should be your way to go.
How does Melio help streamline accounts payable processes?
Melio provides the most intuitive interface for paying my B2B clients and vendor invoices with my credit cards. It enables me to build my credit card spending power, manage cash flow, and do so with a responsive client support team when needed. Let’s explore the most critical features:
Paying business bills
One of Melio’s key features is capturing and paying business bills with the preferable payment method by the vendor. For example, you can still pay your vendors with a credit card even if they don’t accept it, and you can make ACH payments without charges.
You can schedule multiple payments in advance and later balance the account on the go. You could pay vendors by ACH or use their check payment option, but it comes with a fee.
Melio reduces paper checks to a very minimal amount and provides vendors with communication when payments are released. This improves payment processes and cash flow, along with strengthening vendor relationships.
We had a positive experience with Melio, but it takes 3-4 business days until the payee receives the money. The payment takes a little longer with the fee-based transfer.
However, Melio charges 1% in case you need to get the payment on the same day, which is lower than other competitors in the market.
Melio also supports partial payments as you can pay invoices along the way and schedule this process to maintain a healthy account payable account.
Capturing bills/Invoices
Melio supports four ways to add bills to the system:
- By taking a photo of the bill and uploading it to the system.
- Add the bill’s information manually.
- Syncing with QuickBooks or Xero.
- Sending the bill to Melio’s pay inbox.
Instead of just manually adding the bills’ information to the accounting software, Melio makes it easier to add bills in bulk in little time.
It took us 3 hours to explore Melio’s system in full as we tried each method above. We found that sending the bills to Melio’s pay inbox is the best solution.
By making vendors send the bills to your Melio’s email address (which will be: your-business-name@invoicesmelio.com), it automatically records those bills. Then, make the payments directly and by syncing with your accounting software, it records the status of those bills.
Despite we noticed some delays in recording some bills, it’s natural as the Integration with QuickBooks was recent and needs some updates. We’re also looking for more integrations to make the process more flexible.
International Payments
It’s a superior option for those who employ freelancers from different regions, as you can pay them regularly without confusing payments or even records.
However, Melio charges $20 for each successful international payment, which is higher than some other services.
We also noticed some lags with this feature as it can’t make payments to some countries such as India, but we believe it’s just a normal lag.
Approval Workflow
An approval workflow is a useful option for business partners or stakeholders, as you can assign and add your partners and accountants for free and add rules, so Meilo holds making payments until the approval of the assigned part.
For example, you can add your accountant to Melio’s workflow and schedule payments to freelancers in different countries. Once you assign the payment responsibility to your accountant, he can accept/hold the payment.
It’s also a practical way for accounting agencies to manage their clients’ finances by assigning approvals to the managers.
Getting Paid With Melio
You can send invoices and payment links to your clients to land directly in your bank account by capturing the invoice with Melio. Automating this process could save you a good deal of time every week.
It supports credit/debit cards with a small fee and ACH payments for free. However, we see the card fee is equivalent to the market rates, and the ACH is Melio’s value proposition.
You can choose who gets charged credit card service fees (meaning you can choose the customer to get charged 2-3% instead of your business), which no other platform allows you to do.
You also have control over the payment process, as you see every stage from sending the invoice to receiving the money.
Not only that, but you don’t have to collect private bank information from your contractors. Instead, Melio contacts them directly to receive their information, which reduces security risks to your business.
While we appreciate the payment link feature, you can’t change the link you send vendors to make payments. You have to remove your banking information and then add it again.
Customer Service
We had a pleasant experience with Melio’s customer support as the live support agent responded within 3 minutes to our request.
They handle any fraud or loss that happens at any point in the future and are also PCI-compliant. So it’s perfect for data privacy.
Melio has quite positive reviews on platforms such as Trustpilot and G2 and gets 4.5/5 on average user reviews.
People found Melio’s support is the most attractive feature as they proved their promise of refunding the money in case you have security problems or failed payments.
The customer support team is active between 9:00 am – 8:00 pm EST, Monday through Friday, which are the most active times for most business owners.
Melio For Accountants
Melio is providing workflow management for accounting firms* as you can manage many clients’ accounts without confusion. You can set approval access to the clients, so it cannot pay bills until the client approves them.
By syncing with your accounting software, Melio will record accounts payable automatically without having to enter the same details twice.
You don’t have to enter vendors’ bank information as the payment link collects this information without forcing vendors to make an account.
Melio’s Frequently Asked Questions
How does Melio make it easier for businesses to pay and get paid?
Melio is a platform that provides the most intuitive interface for paying B2B clients and vendor invoices with credit cards. It enables business owners to build their credit card spending power, manage cash flow, and do so with a responsive client support team when needed.
It charges reasonable credit/debit card fees and free ACH payments. It provides teams and accounting firms with workflow approval. Furthermore, it saves time by paying the bill and then recording it in your accounting software.
What payment options does Melio offer?
Melio offers invoice processing, bill management, workflow approval, international payments, and syncing with accounting software. The setup of it is so easy and great for clients with lower volume. It supports partial payments so vendors and business owners can pay bills in batches and combine different bills into one bill.
What security measures does Melio have in place to protect businesses?
Melio provides a secure platform for business owners to manage their accounts payable, with features such as fraud monitoring and 3 certified data centers.
How is Melio different from other accounting software?
- It supports partial payments so vendors and business owners can pay bills in batches and combine different bills into 1 bill.
- You can also add your team no matter how many members without any additional charges, which is a good competitive advantage for Melio.
- You can use your business credit card to pay with Melio and even if the vendors don’t accept cards, the payments will deliver as bank transfers.
- There is no required level of expertise to use Melio as it has straightforward navigation and supports a Multi-company dashboard.
- You can add a bill to Melio as easily as taking a photo of the bill, then it creates a new bill with the captured information.
- It’s slightly more affordable than other payment services.
