Disadvantages
Online bill payment is a widely used modern convenience but even today there are still some points about the system that aren’t perfect.
- Online bill paying can be an expensive component to online banking as some companies will charge fees (See Online Banking Fees).
- If you’ve set up automatic bill payment and need to stop those payments, the process can take a while.
- With the ease of automatic bill payment, it’s easy to forget which bill is due when. Keep your bills and their due dates marked in your planner to avoid mistakes and make sure to double check that it gets paid to avoid any errors. Errors could result in additional fees.
- Be aware of your checking account balance, especially if you have automatic payments set up. If you overdraft your account, that can result in unwanted, expensive fees.
- Certain privacy issues may be at stake concerning shared client database information.
Banking Tidbit:
Online bill paying service vendors typically charge a flat rate fee per month for a specific numbers of bill payments, then an individual charge for each bill payment beyond that limit. Some banks may not charge at all for payments up to a certain number of bills per month.
