Comments on: Online Bill Pay – Cheaper, Faster, Greener, More Secure

By: Erik

Erik — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 02:34:59 +0000

anyone not paying their bills online is living in the 18th century. it’s the way to go, all the way.

By: Richard @ Student Scrooge

Richard @ Student Scrooge — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:12:25 +0000

Funny that you mention this — I have been meaning to reevaluate my system to see if I can take better use of Online Bill Pay. I have been a bit wary of any sort of automatic payments as I like to approve them myself, and I have also been a bit reluctant to arrange any of those systems where the bill pay system automatically retrieves the bill for me.

I also agree with APFB’s comment on trying to direct as many bills towards credit card charges as possible — its nice to earn a reward.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:32:41 +0000

Deepali,

My bill pay usually only takes 2-3 days, so I prefer that method. But I try to pay everything with my credit card to simplify matters (track everything through one place, cash back, etc.).

E-statements are great if you have the discipline to take care of things right away. I don’t always do that with e-mail, so I prefer paper for now…

By: deepali

deepali — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:57:34 +0000

I don’t like bill pay because it still takes a week or so. I use it to pay rent, but that’s about it. Otherwise, I use the payment option on my credit card, cell phone, etc accounts. It’s ACH and transfers much faster.

I’ve also simplified this further – I only get e-statements now too. They are available as PDFs, so I save them on my harddrive. So easy and convenient to sort and search too!

By: Jarhead

Jarhead — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 19:05:12 +0000

Online bill pay might be the greatest thing in the world. I get paid on the 1st and 15th every month so to make my budgeting easier I just set up auto payments on those days. That way if I check my account on the 17th or 3rd I know my bills are paid and I don’t have to worry about a check not posting.

By: Another Personal Finance Blog

Another Personal Finance Blog — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:23:04 +0000

Agreed. I love Bill-Pay. I used to pay every single bill through my bank’s free bill pay. However, I started wanting to take fuller advantage of my Credit Card’s rewards program. I still use Bill-Pay to pay the one’s I can’t use my credit card for (mortgage, car loan, etc.). For the others, I either do it from their websites or call and use my credit card. There are a few companies that charge a fee to pay by credit card, so I also still use Bill-Pay for them. Very convenient!

By: Island Spice

Island Spice — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:12:45 +0000

Yes bill pay is WAY better, I don’t even own checks anymore on the rare occasions I can’t pay online I buy a money order.

By: Ron@TheWisdomJournal

Ron@TheWisdomJournal — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:59:17 +0000

I just renewed my car tag via the online interface at my state’s website. No lines at the DMV. No smarty pants clerk who’s having a bad day. No, “I need to see 12 forms of picture ID, a droplet of blood, and a ‘sample.’” Nope, just click, click, click and voila! Took less than 60 seconds…and that included booting up the computer.

Online bill payments are the same way. Click, click, click and you’re done. For the life of me, I don’t understand why more people don’t use it. All of your financial transactions involve the Internet in some way. Repeat: ALL of your financial transactions involve the Internet in some way.