Auto Pay

[OldShooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickeyd ... Just make sure there is enough in the checking account to clear all auto-checks monthly.

Of course, but there is no reason to worry about overdrafts or deposit timing issues. At Schwab, they first hit any cash in my brokerage account if I overdraw checking, then they hit a $10K credit line I have deliberately established as a backup. No fees involved although IIRC the credit line interest is no bargain. But it's paid off in a day or three so the amount is irrelevant.

Some banks are now charging an exorbitant fee for accessing an overdraft credit line, like $35. IIRC Wells is among them. But even if you are looking at ripoff fees IMO it is still better than an overdraft or a refused transaction.

[brett]

Like others, we have autopay whenever possible. Some on our checking account, as many as possible on our credit card.

There has never been an issue. Except when our credit card was compromised and a new card was issued.

[target2019]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby To be fair, the town has to pay a merchant fee to the credit card company.

To be fair, I am a low impact taxpayer (no chillens in the schools). Forgiveness of the evil surcharge to seniors does not sound to me like an extreme or outrageous position. But I do understand there are other thoughts on this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rk911 why should other taxpayers subsisize that cost? if you don't want to pay the fee then write a check.

I do pay by check, and have forever. On the bottom line I think we are subsidizing the tax base, but that's just me sayin', I guess.
It was just a comment on the surcharge. Never asked for a subsidy of any kind, but I admit we do get a few in some areas.

[jazz4cash]

I am moving to full autopay. I try to push payments from BofA billpay. Their billpay is great. They have ebill for many vendors that show up when I log into Online Banking. Usually you can also keep paper billing in addition to ebill. Those payments can be set to min payment, full balance, or other amount. Other vendors I manually enter generally or use a fixed amount that is above amount due. I resisted auto pay from the biller's website because if the account is compromised, all the biller's have to be contacted individually. I finally gave in and set up autopay at the biller's website for accounts that accept credit card payments so I could get 2% cashback with the Fido Visa. That includes some major expenses like home and auto insurance. Then I have Fido Visa on autopay.

Many times I ask friends or family why they don't like autopay, they have some misperception or worry about some risk that is not directly related to autopay and they've never tried it. If I was worried, I would set up a separate account exclusively for autopayments.

[Deuce]

I had a recurring cc payment for dental insurance and the cc company said I could not cancel the recurring payment only the vendor could. I cancelled the dental insurance and am leery of securing payments.

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by target2019 To be fair, I am a low impact taxpayer (no chillens in the schools). Forgiveness of the evil surcharge to seniors does not sound to me like an extreme or outrageous position. But I do understand there are other thoughts on this. I do pay by check, and have forever. On the bottom line I think we are subsidizing the tax base, but that's just me sayin', I guess. It was just a comment on the surcharge. Never asked for a subsidy of any kind, but I admit we do get a few in some areas.

It's not a surcharge to seniors; anyone who pays by credit card has to pay the fee to reimburse the town for the merchant fee it must pay to the credit card company.

We never had children. Nonetheless, just about half of our property taxes go to the schools every year. In current dollars, I would estimate that we have paid over $180,000 to support the schools in our town since we bought our house. Is that subsidizing the tax base? I think not, because the tax is based on property value, not on whether you use the town services those taxes pay for (including schools). That's just the way the system works and always has.

[Rianne]

I pay CC’s EOM totals, not statement end date amounts. Helps me with monthly budgeting. Paid online. Utilities are on autopay and so are homeowners/car/umbrella policies. If not on checking acct autopay, bills are on CC autopay. I might write 3 checks a month.

[braumeister]

I'm another very happy autopay user. Everything is automatically paid from a credit card except where a fee is charged, and then it's autopaid from a checking account. And all the credit cards have their statement balance autopaid every month as well (except one where I have to pay it manually).

I've never had a problem and I've been doing it for many years.

The only checks I have to write are for things that seldom happen, like property taxes, passport renewals, etc.

[target2019]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby It's not a surcharge to seniors; anyone who pays by credit card has to pay the fee to reimburse the town for the merchant fee it must pay to the credit card company. We never had children. Nonetheless, just about half of our property taxes go to the schools every year. In current dollars, I would estimate that we have paid over $180,000 to support the schools in our town since we bought our house. Is that subsidizing the tax base? I think not, because the tax is based on property value, not on whether you use the town services those taxes pay for (including schools). That's just the way the system works and always has.

I was suggesting forgiveness of the surcharge to seniors.
That is all. Over and Out!

[jazz4cash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deuce I had a recurring cc payment for dental insurance and the cc company said I could not cancel the recurring payment only the vendor could. I cancelled the dental insurance and am leery of securing payments.

I think I would’ve closed the cc account. Which one was it?

[MikeWillRetire]

As I get closer to my retirement date, I have been transitioning to autopay and e-bills because I plan to do some travel in the early years. I don't want to worry about missing a payment or missing a bill while away. I have liked the transition. I have even embraced using Zelle as a way to pay family and friends!

[Doribe]

I have been using autopay for decades. I have a separate credit card account for autopay bills. It serves a couple of purposes

1) If my day-to-day credit card is compromised, I won't have to resubmit all the information for autopay with a new credit card number.

2) I can easily track my internet, phone, Netflix, gas, charity and other monthly charges and they are not commingled with my day-to-day spending for a quick scan.

I autopay my credit cards using automatic transfer from my bank. I never miss a payment.

I try to keep my accounts organized the same way because my memory isn't as sharp as it once was.

[Idnar7]

I also have been using auto pay from a cash back credit card for many years. The only issue is if your card gets compromised and you have to get a new card (has happened three times). Last time I had to notify 17 accounts, and all were different. Some online, some by phone, and some by combination. Some that are annual, such as subscriptions, are easy to forget about. The last time I compiled a list with accounts and how to change them. Plus my banks dings me $25 bucks to FedEx the card to me because I can't wait the 10 days to get my new card number.

[Cobra9777]

We auto-pay most bills using our Fidelity 2% cash-back VISA. The credit cards themselves are auto-paid in full, on the due date, from our checking account.

A couple exceptions... our retiree health insurance is pulled from our checking account by each of our former employers (no CC option). Federal tax is paid quarterly via EFTPS and local property tax is paid annually using the bill-pay service in our checking account (CC option includes 2.5% fee).

We track and validate CC spending in real-time using email notifications. I also log-in to Fidelity's Full View application every 2 or 3 days to check categories, monitor balances, etc.

Never had a problem of any kind with auto-pay, whether by CC or direct from the checking account. I suppose it does require a somewhat different approach to control. But for me at least, I feel like I'm more in control now than the old days of waiting for a statement to validate charges and then writing a check or scheduling a bill pay.

[Doribe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Idnar7 I also have been using auto pay from a cash back credit card for many years. The only issue is if your card gets compromised and you have to get a new card (has happened three times). Last time I had to notify 17 accounts, and all were different. Some online, some by phone, and some by combination. Some that are annual, such as subscriptions, are easy to forget about. The last time I compiled a list with accounts and how to change them. Plus my banks dings me $25 bucks to FedEx the card to me because I can't wait the 10 days to get my new card number.

This is the reason I use a separate account for all auto pays. It has never been compromised. If my day-to-day credit card is compromised, which has happened, I don't have to scramble to fix the automatic payments. Both credit cards collect points that can be used together.

[RetMD21]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kannon I'm all for simplifying our finances. If I could I would put all credit cards and Verizon and Medicare on auto payments. DW does all the bill paying and is leery, loss of control she says. From what I see you have control by way of email notification of upcoming debits or charges. Was wondering if folks on FIRE use auto pay? Any concerns? Thanks

Although I like autopay if DW was in charge I would be very happy let her do it her way

[seraphim]

Everything is on autopay via my Amazon card, which I pay off right after the bill arrives. Just got $120 to use on Amazon last month. We get text notifications days before a payment hits the card, in case there’s an issue to be resolved. I love it.

[ownyourfuture]

I've used auto pay through my checking account for 20+ years.

City water sewer garbage
Electricity
Natural gas
Cable TV/Internet
Landline

That's a lot of stamps!

Would love to pay any/all of these on my credit card but they don't allow it.
The city knocks $2.00 off your bill monthly for using auto pay.

As for credit cards:
I have a Visa Rewards Card through Fidelity.
Also pay my American Express, and MasterCard directly from there.
I've also used it to make car payments in the past.

[davebarnes]

Very few for us.
T-Mobile for the $10/month discount.
Hulu, Netflix, etc.

Not the: water, gas/electric, insurance, internet.

[a60dan]

I only forget to pay the credit card bill when there is a very large balance.

We have too many credit cards because I followed thepointsguy.com ��

Fixed that by going to autopay.

We autopay to credit card whatever we can. T-Mobile gives us $10/month discount.

All else including credit card is auto-debited from credit union checking account, which has $5K line of credit, just in case.

Credit card bills (my biggest risk of forgetting) are always paid on time. If the line of credit is hit, the interest is very low and I transfer from reserve fund to cover.

Life is too short to pay bills when they can be paid automatically.