[ale] [OT] Online Bill Pay

[Geoffrey]

Alexander Barton wrote:
> Jim Philips wrote:
> 
>> On Thursday 04 December 2003 09:27 pm, David Corbin wrote:
>>
>>> I've seen some threads about this before, so I don't feel too bad about
>>> bringing it up.  I recently started online bill pay with Wachovia +
>>> Quicken.
> 
> 
> You know, I never got the whole electronic bill pay thing.  And I used 
> to work for CheckFree.
> 
> If I can, I usually set things up to pay via automatic withdrawal.

And they have access to your account to take out money whenever they 
want.  If you have a billing dispute, they are still able to take money 
out of your account.  Basically, you're relying on them to not screw up. 
  With online banking you initiate the payment every month not them. 
Further, every online banking system I've used permit you to set up 
repeating monthly payments.  With that, you've got the same convenience 
as the auto withdrawal, without the risk.

Not to mention the risk of some crook on the other end debiting your 
account for a little vacation.

I used to have my car and mortgage auto withdrawal.  Not any more.

Call Clark Howard and ask him if you should have anything auto withdrawn 
from your checking account.

> 
> I haven't investigated CheckFree or other online payment services, but I 
> imagine they must want a fee or something else in return for performing 
> this service for me.

It's nominal with most banks.  With most credit unions it's free.

And, logging on to some web site somewhere and a
> few times a month to pay my bills doesn't sound a bit convenient.

See previous reference to repeating payments.

I can
> imagine all kinds of headaches resulting from the online part partially 
> from having to remember passwords, deal with network or server outage 
> issues, worry about that stupid sqirrel that keeps nibbling on Comcast's 
> co-ax, deal with browser incompatibility, worry about opening myself up 
> to spam, advertisements, junk mail, loss of privacy via my 
> "relationship" with this online provider, etc.

I have not experienced any of the above in such a way as to cause any 
problems.  Sure, their systems are unavailable at times, but they have 
reasonable availability.

-- 
Until later, Geoffrey	esoteric at 3times25.net

Building secure systems inspite of Microsoft