I do pay most of my bills online. (Including my TWC Internet bill, actually.)
However there are some bills that _require_ me to use a checkbook, primarily my rent and housing related expenses [water, sewage, garbage, maintenance].
I could pay in cash, but a check provides additional security and convenience anyways. -- They won't accept debit or credit cards though.
Ya monthly bills are done online. But most of my day to day expenses, eating out, shopping is mostly cash. It helps there are multiple ATMs around I guess.
Have you lived in the USA? Checks are, as far as I can tell, still ubiquitous for rent payments here, and I've always used my bank's online bill pay feature for that. The same is true for utilities, although recently more of those have started supporting recurring credit card payments online.
Most bank accounts in the U.S. have this feature, it’s called “online bill pay.” They do actually pay larger companies (utilities, mortgage, corporate landlords, etc.) via ACH transfer. But for any biller not so set up, they just mail a paper check.
In fairness, paying post-paid bills by check through the mail is still an option for most things. I get most stuff handled automatically and pay most of the rest online through my bank but I still write a fair number of checks either in person or mailed.
What seems to often happen in cases like my town is that they've farmed out online payment to some third party processor. I'm guessing they do this for free or a reduced charge in exchange for a fairly hefty processing fee. As a result, it's cheaper for me to pay town bills via check even if they're usually online check via my bank.
many people still pay bills by mail. they may not have access to the internet or know how to pay bills online (i.e., the poor and elderly). They still exist and this makes their lives harder and more complex and more uncertain.
You've gone straight from "why the hell are people still using cash/check to pay bills in this day and age?" to "it's in my best interest to pay by check", via the assumption that the only alternative is credit card.
Why not, say, just log into your online banking and arrange an electronic transfer to the landlord's account on a set day of each month?
I think this was parent poster's point - that in some countries (even those less advanced than America in other ways) the banking system allows much greater convenience. Most people in Western Europe have the option of paying their rent electronically without writing a cheque and without incurring extra fees.
I had a landlord who wanted paid by check... I was able to set up an online bill pay with my credit union that automatically mailed out a physical check each month.
I was happy because I could automate it like I did my other bills, she was happy because she didn't have to pay credit card processing fees.
Where is this a reality? I pay cash all the time. Most of the services I pay for have a local presence. Paying online is just a convenience for me, but entirely optional.
I can't get water bills electronically, but my bank gets e-bills for my cable/internet, electric and gas providers so I can easily pay those variable amount bills. In fact, they're completely on auto-pilot. I get notified when the bill is posted and the amount; if I do nothing (the normal case), the bill gets paid from my bank's auto-bill pay system automatically.
Well, a lot of bills are payable in cash at places like post-offices, and for some, service stations and convenience stores. You go in with your invoice, hand them cash, and get a receipt.
No attack on you, but I feel like lots of people are suffering from not only a lack of imagination, but a serious lapse in memory for the days when they didn't always have a card and not every subscription was an online direct debit arrangement.
Online bill pay (initiated on your end) is usually just paper checks and occasionally ACH transfers, both of which take time and are annoying to deal with, so of course they don’t like it.
I paid my electric in person before years ago before I started paying online and I had a problem with mail delivery and they didn't mail me a bill to mail back. It was simple.
I also knew someone who paid their phone bill in person every month because he was a teenager and didn't have a checking account, but had a cell phone bill.
I do pay most of my bills online. (Including my TWC Internet bill, actually.)
However there are some bills that _require_ me to use a checkbook, primarily my rent and housing related expenses [water, sewage, garbage, maintenance].
I could pay in cash, but a check provides additional security and convenience anyways. -- They won't accept debit or credit cards though.
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