eBills vs Autopay, via bank or direct with vendor: Which is better?

[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.

[Bill14564]

We use autopay putting as much on a credit card as we can and then autopay the credit card payment.

I understand you don't like this and why. Fortunately, we haven't had those problems yet.

Utility bills are deducted from my bank account in order to avoid a service charge. There might be some regulation that says the utility must collect the full amount and therefore must add the service charge if there is a fee to them (like with a credit card).

My credit card provides for virtual numbers. I create one of these for each vendor. If there is any problem I can cancel the virtual number without affecting the actual account number. So far this has been unnecessary but it feels like a good safety measure.

[retiredguy123]

I don't like autopay either. I use Truist billpay, but only if the vender has an electronic account where the money is transferred electronically. If they don't, the bank needs to actually mail a paper check to the vender. This can often take 2 weeks or more. In that case, I will call the vender and make a credit card payment over the phone. That seems to work fine for most medical and similar bills.

[Toymeister]

I push all funds to the biller.

For reoccurring bills, utilities, I take the highest annual bill amount and push it, then set up payments at the high amount on the due date so, I have one extra payment already in the account as a credit balance. I also gain slightly most months by paying the highest annual bill amount.

In this way I have constant, steady payments. It will be years before my bills require attention. The amount of interest I lose by overpaying is insignificant. The piece of mind is priceless.

[asianthree]

We pay through our online banking. Only individual accounts bank will send a paper check, which I don’t use. It just snail mail that no one has control over. I don’t allow autopay. Never trust a company to have their fingers in my finance.

[ElDiabloJoe]

I push all funds to the biller.

For reoccurring bills, utilities, I take the highest annual bill amount and push it, then set up payments at the high amount on the due date so, I have one extra payment already in the account as a credit balance. I also gain slightly most months by paying the highest annual bill amount.

In this way I have constant, steady payments. It will be years before my bills require attention. The amount of interest I lose by overpaying is insignificant. The piece of mind is priceless.

TM, if you have an opportunity, please expand on this. How do you "push?" Is that an automated process or do you have to actively do it each month? You figure out your highest average monthly bill amount for a particular creditor and then send that. In doing so, a small balance is generally gained over time that allows for a fudge factor should things not work as planned?

[tophcfa]

We use autopay putting as much on a credit card as we can and then autopay the credit card payment.

I understand you don't like this and why. Fortunately, we haven't had those problems yet.

Utility bills are deducted from my bank account in order to avoid a service charge. There might be some regulation that says the utility must collect the full amount and therefore must add the service charge if there is a fee to them (like with a credit card).

My credit card provides for virtual numbers. I create one of these for each vendor. If there is any problem I can cancel the virtual number without affecting the actual account number. So far this has been unnecessary but it feels like a good safety measure.

I do the same thing. Splitting our time between two homes makes paying bills a major hassle, so everything possible is on autopay. I prefer to have everything possible paid from our JetBlue credit cart so we can get points towards free flights between our homes, but use direct pay from the bank account when the service fee eats up the benefits. Never had a problem using autopay, it just sucks when the credit card company sends you a new card and you have to change the card information with multiple vendors.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

TM, if you have an opportunity, please expand on this. How do you "push?" Is that an automated process or do you have to actively do it each month? You figure out your highest average monthly bill amount for a particular creditor and then send that. In doing so, a small balance is generally gained over time that allows for a fudge factor should things not work as planned?

I do the same process. Yes, there is a small negative balance each month of overpayment, and i pay in advance of the invoice being generated so the amount of each invoice is less than zero. . . We use Citizen's and Bank of America. At each, I can set up recurring payments of any amount monthly to the vendor. . how it gets there, up to them. .

I also auto transfer $200 each week to my $1K limit visa card on which all my ad hoc expenses are paid, gas, groceries, investment newsletters, etc. and that is running a huge negative balance after I stopped working

So each month, I just look at the balance, and if negative, i just file the bill, and continue on with whatever else i was doing.

[Toymeister]

TM, if you have an opportunity, please expand on this. How do you "push?" Is that an automated process or do you have to actively do it each month? You figure out your highest average monthly bill amount for a particular creditor and then send that. In doing so, a small balance is generally gained over time that allows for a fudge factor should things not work as planned?
Utilities allow you to send money electronically. I use that money "address" to send money on the same day every month. Let's say my highest Villages water/ amenities bill is in August of $325.

1. I send $325 (my balance is zero)

2. I send an extra $325 once ( I have a credit balance of $325)

3. I send $325 on the due date.

4. Eleven months of the year I accumulate a small credit balance increase as I used the highest annual bill.

5. The bill increases annually slightly chipping away at the credit balance.

6. Revisit you payment amount in five years.

[ElDiabloJoe]

ToyMeister and CoackKandMe, thanks for your clarifications. All these methods are superior to the P.O.S. BillPay I'm hassling with at Truist (Formerly SunTrust and BB&T) bank. Wells Fargo was better at BillPay than Truist, but I'm in a state half the time in which the nearest Wells Fargo is 3 hours away in another state.

The biggest downside I am seeing is the initial set up. Looking back at bills for the past year for an idea of the highest monthly bill from that vendor/utility/creditor/whatever is gonna be a bit of a project.

Thank you for sharing your ideas, practices, and advice.

[tophcfa]

ToyMeister and CoackKandMe, thanks for your clarifications. All these methods are superior to the P.O.S. BillPay I'm hassling with at Truist (Formerly SunTrust and BB&T) bank. Wells Fargo was better at BillPay than Truist, but I'm in a state half the time in which the nearest Wells Fargo is 3 hours away in another state.

The biggest downside I am seeing is the initial set up. Looking back at bills for the past year for an idea of the highest monthly bill from that vendor/utility/creditor/whatever is gonna be a bit of a project.

Thank you for sharing your ideas, practices, and advice.

I am trying to figure out why someone would prefer to pay a monthly fixed amount, based on the highest annual monthly bill, versus simply going auto pay for the exact amount due? It only takes a few minutes each month to reconcile the billing statement to the auto pay and record and file information for your records. What is the advantage of this method, I’m always looking for ways to simplify life?

[JGibson]

Just pay all bills with CC and they just autopay themselves.

Then just pay one CC bill.

The CC is fraud-protected I’m not going to lose sleep over it but I wouldn't hand a waiter my CC.

Everything outside like Publix I use ApplePay which just generates a random number and keeps a log of my expenses.

Except T-Mobile and Verizon take away your auto pay discount if you use a CC so I have a debit card with limited money in there for those companies.
I hope more companies don't follow these policies.

[retiredguy123]

Just pay all bills with CC and they just autopay themselves.

Then just pay one CC bill.

The CC is fraud-protected I’m not going to lose sleep over it but I wouldn't hand a waiter my CC.

Everything outside like Publix I use ApplePay which just generates a random number and keeps a log of my expenses.

Except T-Mobile and Verizon take away your auto pay discount if you use a CC so I have a debit card with limited money in there for those companies.
I hope more companies don't follow these policies.
Some utility companies will not accept a credit card, or, if they do, they charge a percentage fee.

[Ecuadog]

Some utility companies will not accept a credit card, or, if they do, they charge a percentage fee.

You can use a credit card to pay your SECO bill on their website (no auto-pay) without a fee.

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/members/ecuadog-25564/albums/ecuadog-stuff/10300-sig.jpg

[La lamy]

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.

I had the same thing happen to me a long time ago regarding gym. GRRRRRRR! But it hasn't kept me from setting up autopay with other well established companies like Hydro, The Villages amenities bills, Comcast, but would not do it for phone refills from Tracfone. I'd say pick and choose what you trust and ALWAYS check your accounts regularly.

[westernrider75]

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.

We autopay everything we can on a credit card, then manually pay the credit card monthly. It allows me to check the credit card before paying and because I use a cash back card, I get money back almost every month!

[M2inOR]

We have all bills on autopsy. Either a direct debit from a bank account or a charge to one of our credit cards.

The credit card bill is also automated from a bank account.

A suggestion! Have multiple bank accounts and credit cards. Only have enough funds in bank account to pay one or two months of bills and charges.

We have extra security in credit card accounts and bank accounts.

Why multiple bank and credit card accounts? To keep our funds safer. Also, if one account is compromised or locked, we can still live life and travel if something goes wrong.

Also, if traveling to Europe and Asia, set up Apple Pay or Google Pay on your phone so you can pay everywhere with a tap without pulling out your wallet or credit card.

We just completed a 5 week trip to Europe, and used phone or card for everything. Even some tour guides and restaurants had tap to pay for tips.

Yes, I brought US and Europe cash I had on handle from previous trips just in case cash was needed. I did not need cash at all.

This is my experience after 45 years of international travel. Longest trip away from home was 8 weeks.

Thanks to the internet, travel is stress free. Even helps watch the home while away. Friends help too.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

I am trying to figure out why someone would prefer to pay a monthly fixed amount, based on the highest annual monthly bill, versus simply going auto pay for the exact amount due? It only takes a few minutes each month to reconcile the billing statement to the auto pay and record and file information for your records. What is the advantage of this method, I’m always looking for ways to simplify life?

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.

Two reasons:

Hacking of vendors auto pay account . .
Sense of payment control . . see second quote above
Lack of trust in vendors billing. .

but then I again, I posted something from ZeroHedge which I read. .

[msilagy]

Interesting - something negative happens to someone only once and they are done with that service - except for child bearing labor! LOL. Think about it!

[JGibson]

Some utility companies will not accept a credit card, or, if they do, they charge a percentage fee.
Yeah, I think the CC rewards frenzy initiated a spike in folks using their CC for just about everything.

I believe some companies pay a fee to CC companies so they are revolting.

[allsport]

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.
My utilities are on auto pay and the rest I pay on line directly to the company with never any issues. They are paid the same day and I get both a receipt at the time I pay and again at the time the payment posts. Very easy and safe and I have total control.

[JRcorvette]

We use autopay putting as much on a credit card as we can and then autopay the credit card payment.

I understand you don't like this and why. Fortunately, we haven't had those problems yet.

Utility bills are deducted from my bank account in order to avoid a service charge. There might be some regulation that says the utility must collect the full amount and therefore must add the service charge if there is a fee to them (like with a credit card).

My credit card provides for virtual numbers. I create one of these for each vendor. If there is any problem I can cancel the virtual number without affecting the actual account number. So far this has been unnecessary but it feels like a good safety measure.

Curious what CC allows you to create virtual account numbers???

[cjky2k]

We use autopay putting as much on a credit card as we can and then autopay the credit card payment.

I understand you don't like this and why. Fortunately, we haven't had those problems yet.

Utility bills are deducted from my bank account in order to avoid a service charge. There might be some regulation that says the utility must collect the full amount and therefore must add the service charge if there is a fee to them (like with a credit card).

My credit card provides for virtual numbers. I create one of these for each vendor. If there is any problem I can cancel the virtual number without affecting the actual account number. So far this has been unnecessary but it feels like a good safety measure.

I do the same. Autopay from checking account for utilities as they either require that or charge a fee for credit card.

Autopay via credit card for everything else that I can to get the rewards on the credit card. Then I pay off the credit card each month. Credit card gives you an added level of safety and assistance if a recurring charge doesn’t stop.

Do watch notices though. My cell phone provider just offered a statement credit every month to switch to direct debit to a bank account from credit card. They aren’t imposing a 3% credit card fee but doing this to encourage people to shift to direct debit.

[daniel200]

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.

The problem that you are describing is unacceptable. Truist is a very large bank (i believe #10 in size). There is no excuse for their crappy IT department. Why would you expect their problems to stop here?

The first thing I would do is move to a better financial institution. There are several ideas put forth in this forum to help you. Non of them can guarantee success if you remain with Truist and it’s IT department fails to execute all of your tasks correctly and timely.

[biker59]

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.
Where I can I charge my bill to my credit card, mainly to get points. For utilities etc and those companies who won't accept credit card payments without a fee, I use a checking account and give the company the ach info. As a safeguard, though, I use a dedicated checking account for these purposes. I have a separate main checking account to which pension, etc, gets deposited. I push a budgeted amount from this account to my utilities checking account each month. This minimizes how much I have to change should I need to close the utilities account.

[Laurel Maryland]

We autopay everything we can on a credit card, then manually pay the credit card monthly. It allows me to check the credit card before paying and because I use a cash back card, I get money back almost every month!

A good thing about autopay is that you'll never have to worry about one of your payments arriving late and messing up your credit score. Not to mention the late fees.

[Salty Dog]

Curious what CC allows you to create virtual account numbers???

I don't use it, but my Capitol One CC accounts offer it.

[Maker]

Curious what CC allows you to create virtual account numbers???

Citi has them. Not super easy to manage, but I use them often for some online things.
Plus they have 2 cards with rewards. One is 2% on everything. One is 5% in one category (choice of several categories; gas, restaurants, grocery, etc) monthly.

US Bank does not have them (I think) but has 6% at Walmart and Amazon.

With several credit cards, each covering a different type of purchase, it should be easy to earn $500 to $1000 yearly paying for non-discretionary things.

[nn0wheremann]

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.
Keep using bill pay, never let creditors write their own checks (debits) off your account. But, change banks. Chase works well for me.

[Toymeister]

I am trying to figure out why someone would prefer to pay a monthly fixed amount, based on the highest annual monthly bill, versus simply going auto pay for the exact amount due? It only takes a few minutes each month to reconcile the billing statement to the auto pay and record and file information for your records. What is the advantage of this method, I’m always looking for ways to simplify life?

Two advantages:

1. I spend zero minutes reconciling bills. I'll do this in five years

2. Level billing. Here posters endlessly complain about increasing bills. My payments don't increase and won't for several years.

[retiredguy123]

You can use a credit card to pay your SECO bill on their website (no auto-pay) without a fee.

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/members/ecuadog-25564/albums/ecuadog-stuff/10300-sig.jpg
I don't have SECO, but it is surprising. They will probably start charging a fee eventually.