online bill pay or direct debit--treading water

[greenbunny]

I am a hard-core paper-bill traditionalist, but DH is pressuring me to move to electronic forms of payment. I am trying to get info about it from my utility companies and basically they are telling me nothing except "give us your name and your checking account number".

I have heard, from several friends, nightmare stories about being double-dipped for direct bill pays, putting them into negative account balances and making their other checks bounce, and the nightmare it is to straighten it out.

I am happy writing a check every month, I think 37 cents is worth peace of mind. I don't want to give people the authority to take money out of my account willy-nilly. But DH is being insistent (and he doesn't even do anything, I take care of all our finances. Mr. Cheapskate thinks we're apparently going to retire on the amount we'll save on stamps. :rolleyes: )

What are your experiences with paying your bills either with an electronic transfer, or giving the company direct access (direct debiting)? Any horror stories or reservations about it? If you had problems, how hard were they to fix?

[LDS Angel 19]

No horror stories here. My car insurance, cell phone, DSL and regular phone bill are all automatically taken out of our account. Never had a problem.

[ee_chick]

I pay all of my bills online. I do not allow the companies to directly post a debit to my account for exactly the reason you outlined. I have had no trouble paying bills online -- I think it's faster, easier, and cheaper than writing out a check for everything.

[southerner]

I will never go back to paper checks. I pay through my bank. That might give you more piece of mind. This way, you can go into your bank account and set up all the people you need to pay bills to. Then, you just go in a schedule a payment. My bank offers a lot of different options (ie have a check automatically sent the same time and amount every month or I can go in as my bills come in the mail and set it up manulally myself). This way you wouldn't have to give info to the other places and your bank send them a check for you. Some banks might charge a fee for bill payment, mine doesn't.

Does your bank offer banking online and free bill payment?

[villanelle75]

I have onlien bill pay through my bank and think it's the best of both worlds. I save that whopping 37 cents ;) and paying bills is so fast and easy, but I don't have to give out my account info to any of our service providers. Instead, I give the info for my bills, like account number, address of the company sneding the bill, etc., and then just go each month and enter the amount of the bill adn click the Send button.

No problems so far!

[evagatesgreen2]

I use mycheckfree.com for the majority of our bills. I would write more checks if I could find the checkbook half the time. :o I can schedule when the payments go through and it keeps a record of my payment activity. The only service where I use direct debit is netflix. The only checks we write every month are for rent/water/storage and gas.

[emmjay]

I don't write any checks - everything is online or debit. I don't have any horror stories - I've been paying my bills online for years and I've never had any trouble! I really prefer the online bill payment instead of direct debit because that way I can control it. We do direct debit for cable and for State Farm for our insurance. I just think about if we move, what kind of nightmare is that going to cause for the cable company - it took them 3 months to figure out where we live and who to bill (we are on NORTH XYZ St, and they were sending the bill to SOUTH XYZ St).

Can you do online bill pay through your bank? That way the companies wouldn't have any access to your bank information, but you would still save on stamps (assuming your bank offers free online bill pay). You can set up one-time payments or recurring. I never set this up, although it seems like it would be easier since everything would be in one place - I just do everything from each individual company's website.

[bea_mama]

We have just started using online bill pay (I think you are in PA, right? We are too - we use Wachovia and they have free online bill pay.) and I love it. It's really helped reduce our last minute bill paying and helping us to get more organized.

I would not want a company to be able to direct debit from my bank account. I get that "it's none of their business" feeling about that for some weird reason. That being said, I do have certain things set up to automatically bill to my credit card - EZPass, daycare, our gym membership, our heating oil. That way, I see the monthly record and I have a way of disputing the charge through my credit card in case of a problem.

[greenbunny]

Just checked my credit union--it's $3.00 a month to do billpay through them. I'm not sure if that's the same as paying eletronically through the utility company itself, this gets so confusing!

ETA: Yep, we're in PA.

[elladee]

I have never looked into bill pay through the bank. I'm able to pay most of my bills online with our credit card. Since we get cash back, I like to use it at every opportunity. Unlike a direct debit from my checking account, it gives me a little buffer to make sure everything goes through as it should.

For paying the credit card bill every month, I do let them do a direct debit out of my checking account. I have never had a problem with that, but I don't have it set up automatically. Every month I go to the credit card website and authorize the transaction.

I still mail checks for the other bills that don't take credit cards. Like I've said, I never looked into bill pay through my bank. Besides, I kind of like writing checks.

[southerner]

So, if you have to pay $3/month, then it might not be worth it. Timewise, I think it's worth it, but if you are only paying a few bills, then that $3 is more than the few stamps you would use.

Is changing banks an option? Or you just don't want to have to do all that?

I think you really will love it, if you try it!

[greenbunny]

I may look into switching to DH's bank...I'm leary of them because they "lost" a savings bond I cashed in about 5 years ago and didn't "find" it until I got the attorney general's office involved.

I looked into paying with credit cards, but the utilities each charge $3-5 to do it each month, more than the cashback by far.

Maybe I need to start shopping around for a new bank entirely. A few years ago, credit unions were so much better, but that doesn't seem to be true anymore.

[kam]

I am in love with Wachovia's online banking and billpay. The only thing I do through EFT is my car insurance payment. I used to do EFT through a lot more companies but I honestly don't trust them.

Bill pay is great because you can set up payment months in advance and you can also set up reminders. If you, for example, don't see a credit card bill come through, the reminder will at least remind you to set up a payment or call your cc company for follow up. It gives you an element of control without having to worry about your check being lost.

[it's a bug]

I do both online bill pay (through my bank) and pay bils via a website. I feel very safe doing this and can't imagine writing and remembering the mail a check ever again. I always make sure the site is secure (https) and make sure everything flows through the bank okay. We also have a few things set up where the directly draft the funds from the checking account (insurance, mortgage, etc).

[jenn0911]

I pay most of our bills online, but do not let them deduct it automatically (except our car insurance). Every two weeks when we get paid, I sit down at the computer with my checkbook and instead of writing out the bills I go online and send it to them. I only had a problem once when I pressed the send button twice and made a double payment! :eek:

[granada]

I don't completely trust the direct debit thing, either, so I do what jenn0911 does. I also don't do it through the bank, because our bank charges a fee. Usually, the credit card company, insurance company, etc. have a website where you go in and create an account, then you can put in your bank information. Each month, you can log into your account and authorize them to take out a certain amount from your checking account. I also would not do it over the phone, because, for some reason, I don't feel comfortable giving live people my account information.

This seems like a lot of trouble, but I've found it's easier for me than writing a check every month.

[BethElena]

greenbunny - do you have PECO or PPL? I have PPL and I pay online with FH's checking account...no fees whatsoever. If you do have PPL, you just have to sign up online and enter checking account. I did not opt for direct withdrawal, b/c I don't trust it. I don't keep enough in the checking account in case they screw up.

[jaeger]

I've just started using online bill pay. I set it up so that I can go in and pay the companies when I want, they do not have direct access to my account. So far, so good.

[greenbunny]

BethElena, we have PPL. I will look into that, thanks.

[Sha259]

greenbunny - I am in PA as well, and I do a combination of checks, direct debit, and bills online. To tell you the truth I am tired of writing checks, but I continue to do it for the same reasons you have. I only do direct debit for small things, like our gym memberships, car insurance, and internet. I think that billing online is becoming a more practical way to make payments because you save on postage, and you always get confirmation that your payment has been received, and you can still chose when you want that money to go to the company. I will definately be looking into doing more of my transactions through my bank, so I hope they don't charge an extra fee. (BTW I bank with PNC)

[BethElena]

greenbunny - link for you ... PPL Sign up for Payment (https://ppl.ebilling.com/index.jhtml;$sessionid$LNBQVJX0HHGH1JKPUVFU0WY)

Also, if anybody has ERIE Insurance, you can pay online here. My brother is an agent for ERIE, and I've been using the online payments for I think about a year now, and have had no problems whatsoever.... Erie Insurance (https://www.erieinsurancepayments.com/cgi/erieExpress-bin/vortex.cgi)

[Kimberland30]

I pay all of our bills online. Some I do through individual websites (like credit cards, utilities), and some I do through our bank's Bill Pay method.

If your bank charges a fee, check to see if they offer any incentives for using their bill pay program. Ours normally charges $4.95 per month to use Bill Pay, but since we pay over 5 bills per month and have an online statement instead of a paper one, they waive that fee.

ETA: I've never had a problem with using either service. And for me it's more convenient because we are paying off our CC balances, so I can hop online and make another payment when we have the funds, instead of waiting for the next cycle...where there is a good chance I might spend the money elsewhere before that. :)

[kanga1622]

We do exactly like Elladee. Anything that takes credit cards is a direct payment with the credit card. I then go to the credit card's website and arrange a direct payment from my bank when the credit card bill is due. The only automatic payment from the bank account is the car loan which is through the same bank.

I have in the past had automatic payments for my student loans and I've always been worried about having to sort that out in the event that we moved or changed banks. I was so happy to pay off that loan and never have to worry about it again. We haven't set up automatic payments for DH's student loan for that very reason.

[Sevilla]

All of our bills (mortgage, student loans (saves us .25% interest!), car loan, electricity, gas, water) are pait electronically with automatic deduction.

We've never had a problem with it and i love not having to worry about due dates, writing checks and paying late.

One thing to keep in mind is that you still get a paper bill in the mail before your bill is due--and then it tells you on there the amount and when it will be automatically paid.

[greenbunny]

I think I am going to look into getting a new bank and paying everyone through them instead of having to go to every company's website and pay them individually. Having to go to each one seems as much of a hassle as writing a check anyway.

Unfortunately, I really liked my credit union because they are open until 7 PM, it's such BS how banks close before anybody with a frekkin' job gets out of work.

Thanks BethElena, we use Erie as well as PPL.

[BethElena]

no problem, greenbunny. PPL is very reliable. (so is ERIE)

[Annette]

I love online banking! Its so fast and easy and I've been using it for a really long time.
We pay ours via our banks online access except for auto insurance which is deducted and the phone bill which is charged to a credit card. My bank does have autopay so I can set up payees with the frequency and amount and not have to worry about it, like the mortgage and the car loan. Then we have Quicken set up to enter those items automatically so we don't forget.

Also an item to note: Most payees have electronic transfer so your payment only needs 2-3 days to go through.

[mindy]

Hi,

I use online bill pay the ones where you only make a 1 time payment I hate when every month they take it automatically out of your checking I only let my insurance go this way and only because I get a big discount for doing it. I have heard too many horror stories and one time my cell phone took a payment out twice by mistake and it took me forever to get it back.

[Loud_curly]

Love my online bill pay! But I schedule the bills myself - I think only our student loans are debited automatically each month, and that's for the discount. I have set up recurring monthly payments for the mortgage and car, so I don't have to enter that in each month. But the only time we write checks now is for gifts.

My bank is an online-only bank, so no branches. But they've been wonderful, and we get higher interest rates and 24/7 electronic banking. The few times we've had a problem with the online bill pay, the bank took care of it with no charges to us.

[Sazoo]

I do not allow anyone to take automatic payments out of our main checking account - by "automatic" I mean payments that I don't initiate personally each & every time - like recurring monthly payments for a gym membership, or something. I have a credit union account set up for vendors who I choose to (or who require me to) pay via automatic monthly payments. I transfer $$ from our main checking account at the bank to the credit union account each month - but I only keep just enough $$ in the credit union account for the vendors who are set up to deduct from it (mortgage payment, car loan payment, homeowner association dues, homeowner & car insurance, gym memberships, etc.). In other words, they would have a hard time taking extra payments or whatever because there just isn't any extra $$ in that account for them to take. ;)

I do pay some bills electronically with our main checking account, but only the ones that I can initiate the payment personally each month after reviewing the bill, etc.

I've been paying bills online & buying things online for many years now & have never had any problems (knock on wood). However, I monitor all of the transactions in both of my bank/credit union accounts regularly & also check my credit report at least once a year. I do, however, still pay a few bills via check in the mail, some out of habit, & some because the process to pay electronically is too cumbersome. The other day I tried to pay the renewal of my cat's pet license online, but I decided to mail a check instead when I saw that they wanted to charge me a $2.00 "convenience charge" for paying online. :eek: No thanks.

[polarama]

I do a combo of direct debit for "small" bills that are a fixed amount (cable, etc) and online payment through the vendor for things like CCs. I think the only time I write a check is for rent.

One thing to keep in mind--anyone who sees your paper check has access to all of your account info (routing number, account number, etc), so writing/sending checks may not always be more secure. A friend of mine was a victim when a check she wrote to what she thought was a charitable cause turned out to be a scam. They raided her account and took $500 based on the info on her check.

[amorey]

I use online bill pay though my bank for nearly everything. I initiate it all, so I don’t have to worry about anyone overdrawing my account. Some bills, like student loans, are set up to automatically pay themselves each month. I am able to receive “e-bills” for my utilities, and those are set up to pay themselves unless they are over an amount that I specify. If that happens, I get an email. Some bills I log whenever I get them and schedule a payment. You can pay anyone, anywhere with bill pay. I love it because all of my bills are in one place, and I can easily keep track of everyone I’ve paid.

If you are thinking about switching banks, I would recommend a bigger bank. While credit unions still tend to have better loan rates, they’re not usually a good deal for deposit accounts. They tend to charge more for things like bill pay and have maintenance fees. Consumer Reports ranked Bank of America tops, so I would check them out. I know they have a best-in-class bill pay system.

Thank goodness I'm only working for a bank for 3 more weeks!

[vwinkel]

I currently use Bank One and their on-line bill payment is free. It is very easy to use (then again, it's the only one I've ever used). I hardly ever write any checks anymore. Good luck finding a new bank!