With the USPS increasing a first class stamp cost to 41 cents, is it time for you start paying your bills on line? I've been using free online bill payment through my bank for year. Each time the postage rate goes up, I feel even better about banking online. (Yes, it's safe and I'd venture to say much safer than writing a paper check.)
According to the 2007 Consumer Bill Payment Survey just released by Harris Interactive and The Marketing Workshop, for the first time bill payments made online exceed paper check bill payments among online households. Some 74% of households pay at least one bill on line.
Online payments are good for your bank also. According to an IBM study, it costs banks some 9 cents to 15 cents to process a paper check and about 1 cent to process an electronic transaction.
Here are three great reasons why you should be using this free service.
- Complete control. With online banking you can time your payments and get real-time alerts. The savings comes from avoiding late fees and spending less time resolving problems.
- Better security. Here's another tipping point. The funds are transfered out of your account into the bank's account and then the online check is written from the bank's account. So your personal information stays secure. (ie. your home address and phone number do not appear on the check.)
- Better organization. Less paper means less clutter. You can also do online research for years of payments to anyone you have paid through online bill pay.
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1 comment:
Our family started this not too long ago, paying bills online that is, and we love it. Easy, fast, and I always hated writing checks. Now if I surrender the checkbook and start using my debit card.
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