by Richard Bramante

Created on: September 03, 2008   Last Updated: September 16, 2008

In today's rushed lifestyle taking advantage of the various online bill pay services that are available can streamline the processing of your monthly financial obligations. Using bill payment online can be a boon for saving both time and postage. Just paying a few bills on line can pad a couple of dollars to your bottom line in just postage savings alone.

I pay many of my bills on line each month without the use of a bill pay service. The companies and banks I deal with allow on line transactions on their secure websites. I can access my account online, schedule a payment to be paid on the due date and the amount if this is an installment loan such as a credit card. On the bill's due date the company I am making a payment to draws the amount I am paying by directly debiting my checking account. All this is done without writing a check, licking an envelope or affixing postage. The real beauty is the scheduling of bill payments in advance so that you can avoid worry about keeping track of various bill due dates. It has been a great help in avoiding those late payment fees the credit card companies like to sock you with if you are just a day late.

The major problem I have is that there are some bills which still require that I do them the old fashioned way of actually mailing out a check. For this reason I am researching on using an online bill pay service. The bank I have my checking account with offers such a service and I am currently investigating it and some other options that are locally available.

A major criterion is ease of use for creating online payments. You do not want to be struggling with comprehending the user interface if it is difficult or takes more time than writing a check and addressing the envelope. Many services allow a fixed amount of transactions for the monthly fee but you can exceed that amount for an additional fee per extra transaction. You may want to verify that the allotted amount of transactions fits your monthly needs.

Using an online bill pay service not only adds convenience and savings but aids in your financial record keeping. All your transactions are available at your finger tips and there is no need to search through the morass of your bill filing system. Therefore, it not only saves time but adds to your peace of mind. You owe it to yourself to investigate on line bill pay services.

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