How Many of You Pay Bills Online?

I'm dealing with my children now and I see how much more confident they are dealing with money online then DH and I ever were. Guess I'm moving more to the middle. I see it as a bit easier to keep track.
@smiley sometimes you have to take a leap of faith. The world is a scary place.
 
The monthly bills (mortgage and utilities) I pay by check mailed through US Postal Service. For in person purchases (groceries, gas, etc.), I pay cash. I have one credit card which I use only for on-line purchases and pay it off when I get the monthly statement. Last month, I forgot about the CC bill until a few days before it was due so I paid it over the phone.

There was a time when everything was auto pay. One month, when I had purchased a new phone, AT&T billed the CC waaay over the agreed amount. I called the CC company and they refused to reverse the charge because it was auto pay. I had to go to the AT&T store and raise a big stink. They did reverse it but it was a real PITA and that was when I stopped everything auto pay (auto pay being billed to my CC). Never again.

In addition, my 401K account information was stolen by an employee of the company. They notified me by mail and signed me up for one of those companies (Life Lock?) that will supposedly help you if the account is hacked. I called Life Lock and asked what they would do if that happened. They said they would send the paperwork. That's all. I closed the account; they gave me a very difficult time doing that. I had to threaten to show up in their office with the police.

Bank and credit union do not have my email address. I told them I don't have one and firmly instructed them to NOT allow any internet access to my accounts. Not even me. I get a monthly paper statement (for which they charge $6 but I don't care). They are fairly close to my home so I can go in person for questions or cash. The tellers and managers know me by sight. If somebody accessed my phone or computer, they would find NO financial info.

I have had two checks "lost in the mail". One was to AT&T for cell phone, which I switched to pre-pay. The other was for the state income tax. I noticed the check had not cleared my account so I cancelled payment on that "lost" check and sent another. Now I send it registered mail so there is a tracking number.
 
I don't see how just saying whether you use online banking could be unsafe, it would only be unsafe if we were sharing login credentials or our names and account numbers maybe. I guess if someone says they mail checks that could be useful info for check washing thieves, but only if the thieves knew the address to go look at the mailbox when the mail flag is up.

Personally I have two factor authentication enabled (that annoying number that they text when a person tries to login with username and password), as well as alerts, plus 'money transfer lock' turned on for accounts I get paranoid about. I direct the various auto debits etc to my small checking account that only contains money for the current month's bills.

I feel safer paying using the various online payment options than I do with a check, because there is more traceability.

When I was working I tested various website payment pages, the only invalid payments were when a vengeful spouse scheduled million dollar estimated tax payments from their wife's Treasury site account, and that wasn't any fault of the payment site (I guess never share your login credentials with a spouse that might want to do you harm).
 
I use online bill pay thru my bank. Like others have said - do I trust it completely? - NO ... but so far I have not had any issues with it.

I've had to cancel two credit cards due to fraud - from making purchased on the CC somewhere (once Vegas and once online). I watch my bank account very carefully for any fraud.

@horseless carriage I am a big fan of cash! I can't imagine, however, how you can pay all of your bills with cash. Do you have to drive to the gas company and pay, then to the electric company and pay ... all in person?
 
hearlady said:
Do you pay them yourself online or use automatic check withdrawal?
Have you ever had any trouble with someone getting into your account, etc.?
I'm starting to do this but still unsure. Always mailed checks.
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Every person is different but for me I do some auto to my credit card, some auto withdrawal from my bank and others I pay them from my bank or credit card depending on the amount and circumstance. I do not mail checks anymore. Factors to consider how regular are the bills, is the amount the same or can it fluctuate? Is there always a sufficient amount in the account to cover what might hit? Does your financial institution make it easy for you to do or offer help in explaining how to do it yourself?
 
Not to derail this thread but thought I would add an important tidbit.

If you are paying bills online you need to include that info in your estate plan. I have made a list of all my expenses and the business contact info so they can be cancelled after I pass, that list is included in my after death folder.

Think about about how much money cell phone carriers, internet providers, car wash subscription, etc. make off deceased people. It can take months for an estate executor to weed thru all the monthly charges and figure out how to stop them, all the while those businesses keep drawing their payments from the account, whether the account is still active or not.
 
Aunt Bea said:
IMO us old folks have more to fear from the people closest to us as we age than we do from scammers, hackers, and boogeymen.

I feel much safer in automating my finances in ways that require minimal human contact than I do in using cash, paper checks, etc…

We all need to do what we are comfortable with while keeping an open mind to the options available to us.
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Sadly Aunt Bea, what I bolded in your reply is all too often the truth. I also agree with the rest of your reply.
 
My experience is that you can tell your bank that you don't want internet access to your account but they don't have to honor that request. Many times, the problem comes from inside the bank so any instructions get ignored. That happened to me with a debit card so we don't use one anymore. I keep a watchful eye on everything.
What you want to do is lock down your logins as tightly as possible. Use 2-factor authentication. Change passwords when you change phones or computers. The most important thing to remember is that if someone gets access to your accounts/cards, there is a good chance that you gave them access to it via scams. It's probably the most common way.
 
C50 said:
If you are paying bills online you need to include that info in your estate plan. I have made a list of all my expenses and the business contact info so they can be cancelled after I pass, that list is included in my after death folder.
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My husband and I are discussing this. You also need to know how bills are being paid. In the event of death, your bank accounts are frozen immediately. The bill payments will stop too. You have to ensure you can access the accounts. You sometimes can’t wait for the will to be processed.

Some things might need to maintain membership for a year or so. Think about your photos disappearing from the unpaid cloud.
 
Jules said:
My husband and I are discussing this. You also need to know how bills are being paid. In the event of death, your bank accounts are frozen immediately. The bill payments will stop too. You have to ensure you can access the accounts. You sometimes can’t wait for the will to be processed.
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Setting up a Pay on Death (POD) account is a way to provide heirs immediate access to funds to pay bills and other estate expenses before probate. This type account bypasses or avoids probate, allowing the beneficiary to withdraw funds by simply presenting a death certificate and ID to the bank.
 
MACKTEXAS said:
Setting up a Pay on Death (POD) account is a way to provide heirs immediate access to funds to pay bills and other estate expenses before probate. This type account bypasses or avoids probate, allowing the beneficiary to withdraw funds by simply presenting a death certificate and ID to the bank.
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Yes to the above. POD is for savings and checking, TOD (time of death) is for investment accounts and accomplishes the same thing, direct transfer to named beneficiaries.

You can also set up your auto and home as TOD, direct to beneficiaries and no probabate. That process takes a bit of paper work and a trip to the DMV title office and the county recorders office for the home deed, but it's fairly simple. I think the cars were $16 dollars each for the TOD title, and my home deed was $62.

Sure beats probate.
 
C50 said:
You can also set up your auto and home as TOD, direct to beneficiaries and no probabate. That process takes a bit of paper work and a trip to the DMV title office and the county recorders office for the home deed, but it's fairly simple.
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THANK you for that, which I did not know. I've made a note to follow up on this.
 
C50 said:
Yes to the above. POD is for savings and checking, TOD (time of death) is for investment accounts and accomplishes the same thing, direct transfer to named beneficiaries.

You can also set up your auto and home as TOD, direct to beneficiaries and no probabate. That process takes a bit of paper work and a trip to the DMV title office and the county recorders office for the home deed, but it's fairly simple. I think the cars were $16 dollars each for the TOD title, and my home deed was $62.

Sure beats probate.
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That’s interesting, I need to see how that works in New York.

Thanks.

Edit: Automobile title transfer on death appears to be an option in New York if the vehicle is worth less than $25,000.00

Good information!
 
C50 said:
Yes to the above. POD is for savings and checking, TOD (time of death) is for investment accounts and accomplishes the same thing, direct transfer to named beneficiaries.

You can also set up your auto and home as TOD, direct to beneficiaries and no probabate. That process takes a bit of paper work and a trip to the DMV title office and the county recorders office for the home deed, but it's fairly simple. I think the cars were $16 dollars each for the TOD title, and my home deed was $62.

Sure beats probate.
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Not every state allows you to do that for real estate.
 
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