I use a checking account that does earn some interest, the reason I don't change is mostly inertia. It would be a hassle to change all my auto-pays Although I have rent pulled from my Fidelity account because the cash earns 5% and the landlord takes his sweet time in cashing the check.
Do you Autopay your Monthly Bills?
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I use a checking account that does earn some interest, the reason I don't change is mostly inertia. It would be a hassle to change all my auto-pays Although I have rent pulled from my Fidelity account because the cash earns 5% and the landlord takes his sweet time in cashing the check.
scrabbler1
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The only time I had a problem with an autopay payment was about 20 years ago when I disputed a small part of my phone bill. My local phone service provider gave me a temporary credit but still kept pulling the full amount, undoing the credit. I had to call them every month for a few months before they finally made the credit permanent. If it had gone on much longer, I would have ended the autopay and written a check for the correct amount, then fought it out with them. I am not with that provider any more, but not because of that incident.
Mpeirce, I don't have an interest-bearing savings account, only an interest-free checking account. I don't keep much in there, just enough to pay the bills with a small cushion to cover smaller, unforeseen expenses (i.e. first-tier emergency fund), and enough to meet any minimum balance requirements to avoid monthly fees.
Mpeirce, I don't have an interest-bearing savings account, only an interest-free checking account. I don't keep much in there, just enough to pay the bills with a small cushion to cover smaller, unforeseen expenses (i.e. first-tier emergency fund), and enough to meet any minimum balance requirements to avoid monthly fees.
Nope, they get paper checks. we tried auto pay with 4 different bills our mortgage with suntrust and our electric and with a YMCA membership and with T mobile phone we were betrayed not once but on 2 occasions suntrust double dipped on our house payment, YMCA double dipped, electric charged us double once or twice and T mobile tried to be slick and pull out some extra. So Nope, i refuse to be scammed and used as an ATM, then they dont even accept fault, just a sorry sucks to be you. Trust has been lost so they can get paper checks from now on and do. We cant change Suntrust as they hold the mortgage and we only have one electric company option ,but we quit YMCA and dumped T mobile because of that.
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audreyh1
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That’s why people avoid pulls, but you can still automate via push.
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I have long lived by the maxim that one should never attribute to malice what can be explained by mere incompetence. Still annoying, I know, since you have to spend time straightening it out. But I prefer the psychological freedom of not believing that people are trying to be malevolent toward me (i.e. "scamming") .
Surewhitey
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
If you want to have some fun, open a good rewards CC & prepay your utilities and get something for them. You can get something & take them off your radar for 6-12 months. I've done it a couple of times, paying electricity, gas, water, internet and cell phone. It's nice to forget about it for a while...
Leave them on auto pay for when they use the prepaid $'s.
We (DW) only writes checks for the cleaning lady & gifts for family cash gifts. I haven't written a check in years.
Leave them on auto pay for when they use the prepaid $'s.
We (DW) only writes checks for the cleaning lady & gifts for family cash gifts. I haven't written a check in years.
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Interesting. I'm developing a concept for a local nonprofit I support which involves me sending packages of various sizes and weights using USPS. There's a way to automate much of this process, but the activity is a community engagement opportunity for intellectually disabled individuals, and so lately I'm in the post office once or twice a week piloting it out on my own. Ultimately the concept needs to be profitable, so I keep careful track of my time, but I haven't found going to the post office to mail something in any way unpleasant. The people at the counter are always friendly, and even with some friendly banter, the longest it's taken to ship 2-3 packages is 8 minutes entry to exit.
audreyh1
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It’s not the post office, it’s dealing with paper and stamps, sometimes printing envelopes, and then going to a mailbox. I prefer to receive my bills electronically anyway.
jazz4cash
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+100
I don't see how you could "automate" a push unless the bill amount is is fixed.
audreyh1
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Lots of my monthly bills are fixed.
I also receive ebills from several providers, and those are automatically paid per the statement by my bank. Nice way to handle variable bills.
I have some others scheduled monthly (where ebills are not available), already generated at the bank and in the scheduled payment queue, and those I update the amount as soon as I review the statement. That is quite straightforward.
And some go on credit cards - my preference. Technically this is not a push from the bank, but easiest to deal with.
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jazz4cash
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Most of my payees have ebill for my bank's online banking system. I get a notification when an ebill arrives. I can set up to autopay the full amount, autopay another fixed amount, or just get notified and enter the amount manually. They used to offer a link to view the invoice on the biller's website but I think that option went away unfortunately.
I also push auto payments to my utility for 10 months or so. I can easily estimate a monthly payment that keeps me in credit status and use 1 or two months for my usage to catch up.
What bank do you use? I guess mine don't have "eBills"
audreyh1
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BofA has ebills available for several of my credit cards. I probably could get them for several other items but those vendors accept credit card autopay and I prefer that.
Ah, but the Bank of America checking account pays almost no interest. I guess the convenience could be worth it.
audreyh1
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I don’t worry about that at all. I move funds there monthly to cover bills.
I did this several years ago when my credit card was last compromised.
rk911
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
our checkinf and savings accounts ARE interest bearing. Why, we almost earned $0.50 last month!
We don't keep much in checking and savings. It does build up, though as we are still living way beneath our means. We don't 'push', we have the vendors 'pull' monthly payments. This takes care of irregular monthly amounts. Been doing this forever...at least 25 to 30-years...with just one hiccup. The electric company's system failed to ping our bank for payment one month. Easily remedied and that was early on. We do this with all recurring monthly payments including credit cards. I'd say 95% of other bills are paid electronically but I have to go on their websites to arrange that as the bills come in. About the only actual checks I write are for the lawn care and snow removal services.
I have all recurring bills on auto-pay using a 2% cashback credit card. I also auto-pay the CC bills... the CC company pulls the amount due from our checking account on the due date. Our "checking account" is a CMA at Fidelity currently paying over 5%.
Auto-pay is a huge convenience. Never a problem in over 10 years. Plenty of problems prior to that because... human. I still review electronic statements/bills/invoices as soon as they are received. Same due diligence as before. Only difference is: no further action is required by me afterward.
A few exceptions: We pay annual property tax using online bill pay because the charge to use a CC is higher than the 2% cashback. We also pay health insurance premiums by direct debit from our checking account. Our former employers do not offer a CC option for paying HI premiums. Checks are extremely rare.
Auto-pay is a huge convenience. Never a problem in over 10 years. Plenty of problems prior to that because... human. I still review electronic statements/bills/invoices as soon as they are received. Same due diligence as before. Only difference is: no further action is required by me afterward.
A few exceptions: We pay annual property tax using online bill pay because the charge to use a CC is higher than the 2% cashback. We also pay health insurance premiums by direct debit from our checking account. Our former employers do not offer a CC option for paying HI premiums. Checks are extremely rare.
jazz4cash
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Audrey nailed it. I use Bank of America. Their billpay is amazing because they will pay anybody even if electronic payment is not possible they will mail a check and it always arrives on time. I don’t know how they do that with the USPS but I never had a problem. A few times my Dr’s office lost a payment and BofA was very helpful sorting it out. I don’t like big banks but I hate the thought of setting up a new account with all these billers. I do use HYSA for mortgage and my main credit card so those fundsearn decent interest.
I would only be interested in eBill (push pay) for my CC accounts. For normal recurring bills, I want the 2% cashback from auto-pay with a CC.
However, our main CC is the Fidelity-branded Elan 2% VISA, which ironically is NOT eligible for eBill at Fidelity. All other CCs are eBill eligible. Also, Elan is the only CC that routinely causes connectivity problems with Full View at Fidelity.
One would think that before Fidelity partnered with a CC provider, that some effort would be expended to ensure that the card will work properly with all other Fidelity services.
In any case, I'd prefer the eBill process for auto-paying CCs. But I don't want to have some on eBill and some not. So I continue letting the CCs pull from our CMA. No issue in over 10 years.
However, our main CC is the Fidelity-branded Elan 2% VISA, which ironically is NOT eligible for eBill at Fidelity. All other CCs are eBill eligible. Also, Elan is the only CC that routinely causes connectivity problems with Full View at Fidelity.
One would think that before Fidelity partnered with a CC provider, that some effort would be expended to ensure that the card will work properly with all other Fidelity services.
In any case, I'd prefer the eBill process for auto-paying CCs. But I don't want to have some on eBill and some not. So I continue letting the CCs pull from our CMA. No issue in over 10 years.
audreyh1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Yes, that is an ongoing annoyance. For a while Fidelity at least would show you the amount and date due when you set up their bill payment system - they might have even filled it in from a dropdown. Now they don’t even show that. They herd you towards doing autopay from the CC company.
jazz4cash
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I don't see much benefit to ebill for the Fidelity Elan Visa. I see the account status everyday when I log in. Plus I set up a notification when the bill is due so it's similar to ebill. Another feature with autopay is that you can set it up for the minimum payment. That way will avoid being late but you can still review the bill and verify the charges before paying the balance.
Tracer
Recycles dryer sheets
How about a checking account that is interest bearing. There are lots around but most have certain requirements to earn interest on your balance.
For me, I use my broker (Fidelity) for almost everything, including my checking account. Virtually all my bills are paid out of there and all are on auto pay. They give you a book of checks, but I can't remember the last time I actually paid anything with a paper check. The account is in Fidelity Government Cash Reserves (FDRXX). The current 7 day yield is 5.0%
