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> Just set all regular bills on auto I realize that opinions on this differ, but I think that automatic bill payment is a horrible security practice. Just las

> Just set all regular bills on auto I realize that opinions on this differ, but I think that automatic bill payment is a horrible security practice. Just last week I was paying with credit card in which the merchant punched in $5504 by accident instead of $504. Had I not noticed it right away, at least I'd get another chance to correct the error when my credit card bill arrived. With auto-pay, my bank account would have been emptied. What would you do if some sort of auto pay error emptied your bank account? These things take time to resolve. What if it's a weekend, or a holiday, or you're traveling overseas, or the entity that caused the problem is on strike, or they want a written dispute from you?

SiVal 12y ago
I like auto payments for regular payments such as a gym membership of $X/month and even for payments that vary somewhat but are from pretty reliable sources (monthly utilities--maybe) but NOT for credit cards. Credit cards are all sorts of different charges every month for all sorts of things in all sorts of circumstances. You really should look over the charges each month and figure out any that don't look right. Auto payment trains you to ignore something you should train yourself to keep an eye on.
__david__ 12y ago
Many banks allow you to set a max for an ebill. However, 99% of my auto payments are fixed amounts, so your scenario doesn't apply. Auto pay is the only thing that keeps my bills paid on time (I suck at paying bills manually).
semi-extrinsic 12y ago
I wouldn't (and I don't) have autopay on the credit card. Anyway, if suddenly my current account is emptied for some weird reason, I have backup funds that can be transferred to the current account in five minutes on my phone. Also, I started from the assumption of a non-technical person with "simple finances", so no credit card.

SiVal 12y ago

I like auto payments for regular payments such as a gym membership of $X/month and even for payments that vary somewhat but are from pretty reliable sources (monthly utilities--maybe) but NOT for credit cards. Credit cards are all sorts of different charges every month for all sorts of things in all sorts of circumstances. You really should look over the charges each month and figure out any that don't look right. Auto payment trains you to ignore something you should train yourself to keep an eye on.

__david__ 12y ago

Many banks allow you to set a max for an ebill. However, 99% of my auto payments are fixed amounts, so your scenario doesn't apply. Auto pay is the only thing that keeps my bills paid on time (I suck at paying bills manually).

semi-extrinsic 12y ago

I wouldn't (and I don't) have autopay on the credit card. Anyway, if suddenly my current account is emptied for some weird reason, I have backup funds that can be transferred to the current account in five minutes on my phone. Also, I started from the assumption of a non-technical person with "simple finances", so no credit card.