Jet sitter

I agree, I want to see the bill before, I pay it. It may have something to do with being in the double 30 something crowd.

gomarlins3

I do some and would like to do more, I just haven't really checked (all pun intended) into it yet.

paS2K

I really how autopay and online pay has simplified my life. Here's our program:

Autopay all possible 'recurring' items w/Cash Rewards No-Fee Mastercard: landline, cell phones, charity monthly pledge (habitat), EZ pass x 3, Rx co-pays. I also use this CC for non-recurring online payments...sometimes big ticket: airline tix, event tix, auto regist and license renewal, arch'l & RN license renewals, most charitable donations, auto/ HO/ umbrella insurance payments. This adds up to a LOT of $$ and a lot of $25 rebate checks....like Christmas all year around

Pay all possible other bills by auto debit from checking acct (where CC debit is not allowed ): Kathy's gym fee, my disability ins, water/ gas/ electric, elec for cottage, monthly dollar-cost dep to mutual fund.

Use AAA credit card for all gas purchases, with 3% rebate (used to be 5%); also earns points...enough to pay the AAA membership each year

Use LLBean card for online purchases....earning credits and also free shipping; we therefore use LLBean for a lot of clothing purchases.

All 3 credit cards are paid online every month from checking acct; I generally set up the payment (from checking acct) as soon as the bill arrives....but to be paid days or weeks in the future. I started to do this after having to argue out of a few late charges....which were my fault.

As others have said, I only write a few paper checks per month....which simplifies reconciling checking account at the start of each month. Oh, yeah....both of our paychecks are Direct Deposited....one less hassle to deal with.

On another front, I have online access to my Vanguard accounts....can log-in from anywhere with internet access. In the past week, I've done multiple stock transactions online....picking up some tax losses to apply against mutual fund gains...something that I neglected to do last year

With all of this, I've had no problems or mistakes....to the best of my knowledge. The only PITA was the time we had to cancel a credit card number (one suspicious transaction)...requiring updating several accounts that were set up with auto-pay. John's suggestion about changing passwords fairly often is probably a good one...as long as you have a way to remember them

Wildncrazy

No, the issues don't seem to be with any particular software, age group or anything else I can spot. I would bet I see issues on 1 out of 3 people who pay online. It is a very common issue. Most people don't think much about an occasional issue until they see what the repercussions can be.

Someone mentioned that they had only seen one issue in 5 years. That one issue could be absolutely devastating to your credit scores IF it was reported to the bureau (a pretty good bet) &/or if you had wanted to buy a large item like a car or a house on credit within about 24 months of the issue.

Since you usually have to document any credit issues I get to hear a lot of stories. The inability to prove up the online payment is the biggest reason I hear of most people quitting doing it.

There are also certain credit card companies that routinely cause issues and either won't fix the issues or do it very begrudingly. You do realize that a 30 day late at company A allows credit card company B to raise your interest to the default rates (usually in the hig 20% range) don't you$ It doesn't matter if the late was a mistake or real.

There are repercussions far beyond what most people think about.

The autodraft issue just seems to be dishonest people, with insurance companies in the forefront. She gave me an example that had just happened of 3 autodrafts in the same month from the same company on the same bill. It caused hundreds of dollars of fees plus all the hassles of the customer having to call all the creditors plus most of the companies making her send certified checks to replace it and even a couple not accepting checks from her.

Traveler

I have a Chase card that pays cash. It's 1% or 1.5% on most things. I think it's 4% on gas. I used to love this card when I worked for a company that let me put all of my business travel on my own card. I was charging about $120,000 per year. A few years ago they put a cap on the size of the rebate you could earn each year. But it doesn't matter to me any more. My current employer forces us to use a corporate card for all air, hotel and rental car charges. No more $100 per month rebates for me.