8 Reasons Why You Should Pay Your Bills Online

[oscar]

Computers and Internet connection are available in different countries. Businesses and people throughout the world are using them. Information is transmitted, through the Internet, in a matter of few seconds or minutes, with the push of a computer button.

Big and medium banks have computerized their banking operations for efficiency and productivity. One aspect of efficient banking operations is online bill payment where a bank customer, with identification code (ID) and password issued by the bank, can access the bank's website to pay bills. You can easily pay your bills for electricity, water, credit cards, mortgage loans, car loans, bank and other personal loans.

If your bank offers online bill payment service, you should avail of it to realize the following benefits.

• No more checks to order. A box of checks, containing of 5 booklets of 25 checks per booklet, cost about $24. You can save this money by putting it in your bank account, instead of giving it to the check printing company. No more filing of used checks. Your monthly bank statements received from the bank will be your records.
• No more monthly repetitive writing of check information such as the check date, payee's name, check amount (numbers and in words), check memo (explanation for payment), and signature.
• No more theft of checks in the mail.
• No more postage or stamps to be affixed on the check envelopes. You can save the money instead of using it to buy postage or stamps.
• No more walking to your front yard's mail box or driving to the post office to mail the checks.
• Online check payment is transmitted by the bank to the check payee in one to two business days.
• No more bank account overdraft fees. When you pay a bill online, the bill amount is automatically deducted from your account balance.
• Reconciliation of bank account is easy and convenient since you can access your bank account anytime and any day at the comfort of your home.

SUGGESTIONS AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION

1. See if the bank's website address starts with https (with an “s” at the end) which indicates that the web page is secured. Example: https://www.yourbank.com/billonline.html
2. See if the bank's website has the “lock” icon which means that the connection to the server is encrypted and secured.
3. Deposit sufficient cash into your bank to cover all your online bill payments plus the minimum daily bank balance. If the bank balance is below the required daily minimum balance (say, $500), the bank will charge you with bank fees.
4. In your online bill payment web page, activate the ALERT option that if the amount of each online check paid exceeds $1.00, a message should be automatically emailed to you for your information.
5. In your online bank account, select the option that you want printed monthly bank statements be mailed to you for your records. If you choose online bank statements, through your email, you will spend for printer ink and paper to print the monthly bank statements.
6. For your protection, open more than one bank account and deposit your money according to the purpose of each bank account. For example, first checking account will be used to directly deposit your paychecks, second checking account will be used for online bill payment, and one interest-bearing savings account will be used for other cash. There is a saying: “Don't put all your eggs in one basket.”

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[makemoneyonline]

I like your article and agree with it 100%! But I have yet to persuade my husband to enroll in all automatic payments. I really like the convenience of it. One thing I have to say though, if your bank account is running low, it is a bit harder to keep track of what is already paid for the month, and what is still coming out. It is really important to keep track of everything.

[4jacks]

We pay almost everything online, however we do it manually through our bank, versus having set up automatic payments. basically for the same reason makemoneyonline stated. It's harder to control when you don't have a couple hundred dollar buffer in your account. Our Bank website makes it very easy though, you enter in the payment info once, from then on it's only entering an amount and clicking send.

[Gary Barzel]

More and more banks are making it more difficult to keep paper statements, as they want everyone to switch over to online statements. Some of them actually started charging extra to keep paper statements. While we might see this as a convenience, there are plenty of older people that aren't so tech savvy and find it very difficult to manage it online. I think it would be a better idea to try an offer incentives to get people to switch over to online banking, then to try and charge people for not wanting to make the switch.

[regibiz]

Great article. Online payment is becoming more popular although those from the "old school" still prefers the traditional way.

There are some advantages that doesn't occur to you until someone mentions it.

Thanks