[ElDiabloJoe]

I am looking to make a change. For the past several years, I have used BillPay via my Truist (and prior to that, Wells Fargo) accounts. Lately, Truist is screwing things up. I send payments on Aug 1, and they don't arrive at the creditor until Aug 18!! Not to mention that in the intervening 17 days, my account balance online shows falsely inflated since the money has not been delivered to the creditor yet, although my hand-kept register shows the money removed the day I send it.

In a world of instantaneous digital communication and secure transactions, I find this more and more frequent and lengthening delay unacceptable.

I am seeking options. I am considering either having the bank auto pay the eBills themselves, continuing to act as the aggregator, or actually setting up some type of auto-deduct with the vendors themselves (utilities, cell bills, mortgage, car payments, boat payments, etc.).

What do you suggest is the better method?

Caveat: I am hesitant to give various creditors my account info for auto-deducting because of a bad experience many years ago. My wife, before we were married, belonged to a women-only gym for a time. They reached into her account every month to take their monthly fee. However, this continued for a long time after they went out of business. Attempts to contact them to halt this were unsuccessful. According to the bank, at the time, we had to close out the account completely and open up an entirely different account to halt this. I am hesitant to trust creditors with my account information for this reason.