Paying Bills: Online or Not?

[itsbob]

Their site doesn't allow you to pay online from previous experience.

BOA lets you pay EVERYone online.. if they don't do online billing BOA will cut a check and mail it for you.. no fee. I pay Metrocast that way, Dr bills.. Dentist.. You know, all the people I owe that are small business that don't have online capability.

 

[nicole_M]

BOA lets you pay EVERYone online.. if they don't do online billing BOA will cut a check and mail it for you.. no fee. I pay Metrocast that way, Dr bills.. Dentist.. You know, all the people I owe that are small business that don't have online capability.

This is what I was talking about with them mailing the check above.

I just prefer to pay that one bill on it's own website.

I used to bank with M&T [we lived in Pasadena] and then when we moved down here, I was driving to Prince Frederick to make deposits. I finally switched to BOA last year and it's only a mile from my house. I doubt I'll ever switch banks.

 

[RadioPatrol]

How do you all pay your bills? Do you use online banking? Do you pay online through the company's website? Do you write checks and mail payments?

Online through my CC Companies Website .... manually when say to pay the bill ... no automatic payments

 

[Rael]

99.9% online banking.

I write two checks a month.

The only two checks I write are for the credit card and the mortgage. Can't pay credit with credit, or I'd have lots more miles.

 

[kris31280]

How do you all pay your bills? Do you use online banking? Do you pay online through the company's website? Do you write checks and mail payments?

If you pay online through the companies' websites, do you feel safe with them having your info? Do you let them keep it in their system? Do you authorize automatic debits?

Those bills I can pay directly online without being charged a fee I do, and then the rest get a check from my online bill pay.

 

[kris31280]

BOA lets you pay EVERYone online.. if they don't do online billing BOA will cut a check and mail it for you.. no fee. I pay Metrocast that way, Dr bills.. Dentist.. You know, all the people I owe that are small business that don't have online capability.

I even had to send a personal check to a friend back in MN and I was able to just put in her information and they sent her a check.

 

[sparkyaclown]

I don't trust online banking, most of you have probably had your account compromised without your knowledge. The banks catch a lot of them and replace your funds before you even notice and without notification to you that it has been compromised. I'm not comfortable knowing my account has probably been hacked even if the bank did catch it quick.

 

[Chasey_Lane]

I don't trust online banking, most of you have probably had your account compromised without your knowledge. The banks catch a lot of them and replace your funds before you even notice and without notification to you that it has been compromised.

So what's the big deal then? :shrug:

 

[itsbob]

I don't trust online banking, most of you have probably had your account compromised without your knowledge. The banks catch a lot of them and replace your funds before you even notice and without notification to you that it has been compromised. I'm not comfortable knowing my account has probably been hacked even if the bank did catch it quick.

They'll do that if you use a credit card at the gas station or K-mart.. hell, they'll do that if you do nothing but deposit money in your account. Online banking is no more of a risk.

 

[awpitt]

When is MetComm going to get with the times? It's a PITA to have to write 1 check a month and have stamps readily available for this one bill. They're the only bill that can't be paid online.

METCOM is the only check I write each month. All other bills are paid online.

 

[molly_21]

I don't trust online banking, most of you have probably had your account compromised without your knowledge. The banks catch a lot of them and replace your funds before you even notice and without notification to you that it has been compromised. I'm not comfortable knowing my account has probably been hacked even if the bank did catch it quick.

Checks people can steal, "wash" them, and then use it to write checks from your account.

At least with online banking, they are on secure website and if for some reason the bill does not get paid from their end and you get hit with late fees, they will "take" the hit for you, ie pay the late fees, etc. If you pay by check and for some reason it does not get there. There is really no way of proving you sent it.

Like another poster mentioned, if there is any compromise to your account online, at least the banks will be pretty quick about taking care of it.

 

[MMDad]

It's a good thing your user name lets everyone know you're a clown.

 

[MMDad]

BOA lets you pay EVERYone online.. if they don't do online billing BOA will cut a check and mail it for you.. no fee. I pay Metrocast that way, Dr bills.. Dentist.. You know, all the people I owe that are small business that don't have online capability.

I've written four checks this year.

 

[AndyMarquisLIVE]

How do you all pay your bills? Do you use online banking? Do you pay online through the company's website? Do you write checks and mail payments?

If you pay online through the companies' websites, do you feel safe with them having your info? Do you let them keep it in their system? Do you authorize automatic debits?

Yes to all.

I pay all my bills online.

 

[SEABREEZE 1957]

METCOM is the only check I write each month. All other bills are paid online.

Yep METCOM and SMO.

SMO has a link to pay online, but they have NEVER responded to any email question I've had. When you try to set it up online, it links you to an email address & like I said, they have never responded so that I could complete the online pay set up.

I've never had a problem in over 8 years of paying online. I love it.

 

[Penn]

I've been banking online for 6 years - no problems, so far.

Navy Federal Credit Union handles the mortgage payment each month, and I use BOA Online Banking for all my other bills. It's a heck of a lot easier than mailing all those checks off.

I can pay all my bills in about 5 minutes - gone!

 

[HouseCat]

I pay as many as I can online. I have never had a problem. USPS can keep their damn .42 cent stamps.

 

[sparkyaclown]

Checks people can steal, "wash" them, and then use it to write checks from your account.

At least with online banking, they are on secure website and if for some reason the bill does not get paid from their end and you get hit with late fees, they will "take" the hit for you, ie pay the late fees, etc. If you pay by check and for some reason it does not get there. There is really no way of proving you sent it.

Like another poster mentioned, if there is any compromise to your account online, at least the banks will be pretty quick about taking care of it.

I can honestly say that I have never had any checks written compromised, nor have I had a check get lost and had to pay any late fees. Maybe its just dumb luck. The point is not really that the bank responded quickly, it is more what information was obtained during the compromise. It is true that checks and credit cards can be stolen, but it takes more effort to do so and is blatantly obvious that it happened. It also is limited to a geographical area. If your credit card company detects a compromise they issue you a new card and you know to be on the watch for suspicious activity. If your bank account is compromised they put the money back and pretend nothing happened and there lies my issue with online banking. What was stolen? just funds? or did they obtain personal information they can utilize to steal my identity? If I knew I could at least change my password.

There truly is no such thing as a secure website. Somewhere there is someone who knows how to crack it and has shared the wealth with everyone interested. Hackers have posted utilities out there that makes it possible for any idiot to hack into a site and steal information without having any technical knowledge themselves and from the comfort of their own home and as is the case most of the time their own country. Online banking opens you up to the world.

Call me a clown if you want, in the end what does it matter? You decide yourself what is an acceptable risk. Personally the risk of having my information compromised is higher than the convenience of not writing out a couple of checks each month. For you, your willing to accept the risk for the convenience.

 

[RadioPatrol]

Checks people can steal, "wash" them, and then use it to write checks from your account.

Catch Me If You Can ..........