Power bills aren’t exactly a bundle of fun at the best of times, but thanks to COVID-19 and the uncertainty that’s tagging along on the back of it, in the coming months it’s likely lots of Kiwis will feel the pinch when it comes to paying their power bills.

We know it’s super stressful, especially if you own a small business or are working in an industry that’s likely to be (or is already) heavily impacted.

How can we help? Well, one tool in the Flick armoury that we reckon you might find useful is Bill Smoother (formerly Volt). This nifty little tool helps you to build up credit on your account that can be used when your power bills are a bit higher than normal or when money’s looking tight.

So, how does it work?

By paying slightly more than your typical weekly, fortnightly or monthly bill, you’ll be stashing money away so that when you have a bill that’s higher than normal you can automatically dip into your account to help pay for it. And because you’re paying a regular amount on a regular basis, it’s nice and easy to manage your household budget.

How do I use it?

To set up Bill Smoother, head into the Bills tab of your dashboard.

From there, it’s pretty simple. You simply need to decide how much you want to pay each bill (aka the ‘Minimum payment’), and when you want us to use money from your Bill Smoother to help pay your bill.

What amounts should I choose?

As a guide, it’s a good idea to set the ‘Minimum payment’ around 20% higher than your typical weekly bill. That way, any money that’s left over from your payment amount – once it’s covered your weekly bill – will be put into your Bill Smoother.

The amount you add under ‘Trigger Amount’ is the threshold that’ll notify us to take money from your Bill Smoother account. So, when you get a bill higher than this amount, we’ll use your Bill Smoother stash to pay anything over that.

How will it work with my bills?

When you get your bill, one of three scenarios will play out:

• If it costs less than what you’ve set to pay each bill, the difference goes into your Bill Smoother account.
• If it’s more, we take the full amount.
• If it’s over the amount you’ve set for when to use money from your Volt, we use your balance to pay the difference.

Can I change my settings or close it?

For sure. Like everything with us, you have the power. That means you can open, pause or close your Bill Smoother at any time. And you can change your amounts from week to week easily in your app and dashboard. You’re the boss!