Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe (Post 2249819)

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.

Originally Posted by tophcfa (Post 2250090)

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?

Originally Posted by retiredguy123 (Post 2250145)

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

Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe (Post 2249819)

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.

Originally Posted by Bill14564 (Post 2249833)

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.

Originally Posted by Bill14564 (Post 2249833)

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.

Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe (Post 2249819)

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.

Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe (Post 2249819)

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.

Originally Posted by westernrider75 (Post 2250362)

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!

Originally Posted by JRcorvette (Post 2250415)

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

Originally Posted by JRcorvette (Post 2250415)

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

Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe (Post 2249819)

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.

Originally Posted by tophcfa (Post 2250090)

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?