Pros and Cons of Electronic Bill Payment

Electronic bill payment has been around for quite some time, and the masses are still accepting it as the best way to take care of their payments. Consumers have gotten very efficient at this task and gone are the days of pulling out file drawers full of needless and unwanted paperwork and toiling over a calculator to make sure you get everything balanced and just right.

Pros:

Convenience: you can take care of your bill paying while sitting in your home in your pajamas not rushing around to a post office or to the electric company

Time: It saves a lot of time because you can pay and print your receipt out all while you are still in the task of bill paying not while you are out running a million errands and taking care of other things

Proof: You know that you have stored the receipt on your computer, in your backup and also on paper. That way you don't have to get home to find out the receipt that the company printed you only printed half of the page

Cons:

Identity theft: Although I have read many horrible stories about identity theft and people stealing and selling credit card numbers etc. I think you are more prone to it the more you use the online systems. Even though your "numbers" are already on the internet with other companies; some one has to be able to get to them and then use them

Energy: When you think about it we all save the running around and mailing time; but there used to be a thing called customer service and they would actually print for you and look things up for you and do whatever the customer needed, without being snotty or untrained

Discrepancies: You may have your print out you may have the balance that was represented on the third Tuesday of the month, but if the company changed something in their database you will still have to prove why you only paid a partial payment when they wanted more money

I am sure each individual has their own reasons they like to use the online payment systems; but I do think this is the way all companies will be headed in the future especially when they cut back on their budget because then they can have you do your own processing or they will charge a fee for any quality time with a customer service representative.