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For the payment itself, yes, if you want it all automated. Automated payments are to the biller’s enormous benefit (ahem cable company...) To manage or keep un-

For the payment itself, yes, if you want it all automated. Automated payments are to the biller’s enormous benefit (ahem cable company...) To manage or keep un-automated or see reports or change features, it currently requires a separate app, login, UI, or other legacy portals. It’s annoying. Apple could streamline it, and remove a layer of complexity while taking over the transaction (and gain data gold mines)

xfitm3 8y ago
I rarely make changes so I don’t see the value here. I have every recurring bill setup to auto pay. If I had to manually pay bills I would go insane.
- ryandrake 8y ago
  Interesting. I choose to manually pay all my bills, and avoid monthly subscriptions for things. This allows me to see billing shenanigans as soon as companies attempt them, rather than months later. Comcast just recently raised my bill by 15% or so because that's what they do, and I was able to avoid it before paying it. With auto-pay I would have just kept paying the higher rate. I also try to manually pay everything to avoid forgetting subscriptions, like OP mentioned.
  - alsetmusic 8y ago
    > Comcast just recently raised my bill by 15% or so because that's what they do, and I was able to avoid it before paying it. With auto-pay I would have just kept paying the higher rate. I also disabled autopay for similar reasons. This helped me notice that Comcast had started charging me for a TV tuner that I didn’t have (I don’t have their television service, only internet). It took three months and multiple calls to get that resolved and credited. I might not have remembered to follow-up if I didn’t have to look at the bill each time.
    - nojvek 8y ago
      Frontier is the same. They keep on increasing prices when their speeds keep on getting worse. That’s what we have in America. Internet run by a couple of mafia like companies who have the government wrapped under their fingers. Yes I would very much love if Apple threw a couple of billions and shook the internet pipes.
  - xfitm3 8y ago
    I review my expenses quarterly and adjust my budget as needed. I catch those types of shenanigans there - most of the time.
  - logfromblammo 8y ago
    Same here. I recently saw that my cable internet bill was going up, and successfully argued my way to a higher tier of service for a lower monthly price. That extra $10 a month was about to drive me right into the arms of their main competitor. If I had been on auto-pay, I might not have even noticed. I bought a new cable modem to take advantage of the higher tier data rate, so I'm not actually ahead of things yet, cost-wise, but another couple of months will do it. I think we need that monthly payment friction to pressure companies to keep up their value proposition to customers. If I have to continually re-choose to be a customer, the company has to do more to keep me satisfied.
  - icebraining 8y ago
    Is auto-pay really unrestricted? In my bank I can define a limit for any direct debits, so if they overcharge, it'll be automatically denied, and I'll be informed.
  - calgoo 8y ago
    I dont know how it works where you live, but I can just log onto my bank web page, and reverse the payment if i dont agree with it. Then I can block all charges from that company until i activate it again (or never). All it requires from me is to log on every 2 to 3 days and check the account. That is something you should do anyway to quickly catch any fraud.
- ethagknight 8y ago
  Enabling recurring bill pay across the board is inviting overbilling, especially from services you no longer use. There's a reason companies incentivize you with a $5/mo 'green savings' to go autopay e-billing. That is fine if you don't care, some people's time is more valuable than others, but the potential savings gained from reviewing bills before paying is substantial.
  - samatman 8y ago
    This is true if one doesn’t practice basic accounting. Most people don’t, but without it, recurring bills are likely the least of one’s financial issues. This costs me about an hour a month, which I spend noticing the bills I pay rather than paying them by hand.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
alehul 8y ago
> Apple could streamline it, and remove a layer of complexity while taking over the transaction (and gain data gold mines) While I strongly agree with your top-level comment, and I think Apple's brand is very valuable, a lot of that is from a trustworthy, privacy standpoint. Small nitpick, but I think on the "data gold mines" point, any area where collecting data is paramount is an area that Apple should not enter to maintain that brand value (i.e. their Maps not collecting data as much as Google's is a real pitfall). The areas you listed above are largely possible without collecting that much data, which may be the exact reason Apple should pursue them. :)
- ethagknight 8y ago
  I agree completely. Isn't it how apple chooses to use that data that matters most? Choosing to help me with this information vs. choosing to sell to advertisers. Or maybe even more to your point, apple could NOT use the information!! Apple keeping the data encrypted to my device means its no longer available to the market. I friggin HATE receiving notifications from lending institutions about "what we share" and its a long list of advertisers, and there's not a thing I can do about it. (Edited this comment quite a bit to be more clear)

xfitm3 8y ago

I rarely make changes so I don’t see the value here. I have every recurring bill setup to auto pay. If I had to manually pay bills I would go insane.

ryandrake 8y ago
Interesting. I choose to manually pay all my bills, and avoid monthly subscriptions for things. This allows me to see billing shenanigans as soon as companies attempt them, rather than months later. Comcast just recently raised my bill by 15% or so because that's what they do, and I was able to avoid it before paying it. With auto-pay I would have just kept paying the higher rate. I also try to manually pay everything to avoid forgetting subscriptions, like OP mentioned.
- alsetmusic 8y ago
  > Comcast just recently raised my bill by 15% or so because that's what they do, and I was able to avoid it before paying it. With auto-pay I would have just kept paying the higher rate. I also disabled autopay for similar reasons. This helped me notice that Comcast had started charging me for a TV tuner that I didn’t have (I don’t have their television service, only internet). It took three months and multiple calls to get that resolved and credited. I might not have remembered to follow-up if I didn’t have to look at the bill each time.
  - nojvek 8y ago
    Frontier is the same. They keep on increasing prices when their speeds keep on getting worse. That’s what we have in America. Internet run by a couple of mafia like companies who have the government wrapped under their fingers. Yes I would very much love if Apple threw a couple of billions and shook the internet pipes.
- xfitm3 8y ago
  I review my expenses quarterly and adjust my budget as needed. I catch those types of shenanigans there - most of the time.
- logfromblammo 8y ago
  Same here. I recently saw that my cable internet bill was going up, and successfully argued my way to a higher tier of service for a lower monthly price. That extra $10 a month was about to drive me right into the arms of their main competitor. If I had been on auto-pay, I might not have even noticed. I bought a new cable modem to take advantage of the higher tier data rate, so I'm not actually ahead of things yet, cost-wise, but another couple of months will do it. I think we need that monthly payment friction to pressure companies to keep up their value proposition to customers. If I have to continually re-choose to be a customer, the company has to do more to keep me satisfied.
- icebraining 8y ago
  Is auto-pay really unrestricted? In my bank I can define a limit for any direct debits, so if they overcharge, it'll be automatically denied, and I'll be informed.
- calgoo 8y ago
  I dont know how it works where you live, but I can just log onto my bank web page, and reverse the payment if i dont agree with it. Then I can block all charges from that company until i activate it again (or never). All it requires from me is to log on every 2 to 3 days and check the account. That is something you should do anyway to quickly catch any fraud.
ethagknight 8y ago
Enabling recurring bill pay across the board is inviting overbilling, especially from services you no longer use. There's a reason companies incentivize you with a $5/mo 'green savings' to go autopay e-billing. That is fine if you don't care, some people's time is more valuable than others, but the potential savings gained from reviewing bills before paying is substantial.
- samatman 8y ago
  This is true if one doesn’t practice basic accounting. Most people don’t, but without it, recurring bills are likely the least of one’s financial issues. This costs me about an hour a month, which I spend noticing the bills I pay rather than paying them by hand.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]

alehul 8y ago

> Apple could streamline it, and remove a layer of complexity while taking over the transaction (and gain data gold mines) While I strongly agree with your top-level comment, and I think Apple's brand is very valuable, a lot of that is from a trustworthy, privacy standpoint. Small nitpick, but I think on the "data gold mines" point, any area where collecting data is paramount is an area that Apple should not enter to maintain that brand value (i.e. their Maps not collecting data as much as Google's is a real pitfall). The areas you listed above are largely possible without collecting that much data, which may be the exact reason Apple should pursue them. :)

ethagknight 8y ago
I agree completely. Isn't it how apple chooses to use that data that matters most? Choosing to help me with this information vs. choosing to sell to advertisers. Or maybe even more to your point, apple could NOT use the information!! Apple keeping the data encrypted to my device means its no longer available to the market. I friggin HATE receiving notifications from lending institutions about "what we share" and its a long list of advertisers, and there's not a thing I can do about it. (Edited this comment quite a bit to be more clear)