Bi-weekly Payments explained
With bi-weekly payments, your mortgage is paid every two weeks, producing 26 payments per year. There are two versions: standard bi-weekly takes your annual payment and divides it into 26, so it costs the same per year as monthly; accelerated bi-weekly takes your monthly payment and simply halves it, then collects that half 26 times.
Because there are 26 two-week periods but only 12 months, the accelerated approach means you pay the equivalent of 13 monthly payments a year instead of 12. That extra payment goes straight to principal, shortening your amortization and cutting total interest. The accelerated version is where the real savings come from.