No more late fees!
Jul 13 '00
What is electronic bill payment?
Electronic bill payment allows you to send money electronically to anyone you want. Initially, you need to set up who you want to pay to, fill in their addresses once, and other info. After that, you just fill in the amount and the date to send the money, and the system takes care of sending the money on time, using electronic methods when possible, or by printing a check when the payee does not accept electronic payments.
You never need to address envelopes, buy stamps, or worry about missing the payment deadlines.
How can I join?
Many companies offer online electronic bill payment right now. I suggest using this service in conjunction with a bank account. This way you get 2 advantages: 1) usually, there are no fees (or the fees are very low); and 2) the money earns you interest before it is being sent to the payee. My favorite online bank is Security First Network Bank (SFNB), which offers free online bill payment, but there are many others.
So, what are the advantages and disadvantages of online bill payment?
Disadvantage 1: Security and privacy concerns
Personal finance is very private and it is very important to have a guarantee that it is secure and private. Electronic bill payment requires that you type in your account numbers into the computer, and it also means that someone can find out your password and wreck havoc in your financial life. However, all good reputable companies provide protection for any such occurrences. SFNB, which I mentioned above as my personal favorite bank, has a 100% privacy and security guarantee. That means that if anything happens to your account due to technical problems and/or hackers, they will refund ALL of your money. If you are going to do electronic finance, definitely pick a reputable company with security guarantees.
Disadvantage 2: Send bills earlier
Paying bills electronically also requires having the money a little earlier. With regular bills, companies look at the postmark date to determine whether the payment was late. For electronic payments, they want the payment to be received. It usually takes e-bill companies several days to process payments, so you have to set up the payment 3 to 5 business days in advance. Sometimes this can be a little inconvenient, but for most people it should not be a big problem.
Advantage 1: No more late fees!
Since I can specify a date for when the bill has to be paid, I always "pay" (fill in the amount and date in the bill paying system) all my bills right when I get them. The program then takes care of sending the bills when they are due. Until then, the money is accruing interest in my account! And I've never miss a payment this way.
Advantage 2: Save money on checks, stamps, and address labels
You don't have to pay for checks or stamps. If you pay 5 to 20 bills a month, that's $2-5 monthly savings.
Advantage 3: Save time by not writing addresses
You don't have to address the envelopes, write checks, etc -- with electronic payments you only need to fill out the payee info once, and then just enter amounts.
Advantage 4: Easy tracking of all payments
You can see all your payments organized by category and/or payee, without ever having to manually type in the info into Quicken!
Conclusion: Electronic bill payment is great!
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
refmaker
|
|
Member: Katya Dolginova
Location: Cambridge, MA
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 3 members
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.