# Do you get (and pay) your bills online? If not, why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 7, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298 "2010-12-07T18:14:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/21 "2010-12-07T20:28:20Z")
If it’s “age related” (old people not trusting the internet?) I guess I am an anomaly then. I’m 64 and have been paying and receiving my bills on line for at least four years. We recently moved and let me tell you not having to count on the USPS to forward stuff has been a real blessing. And do you have any idea how many (minimum wage) people handle a paper check…with your bank account number, address, ID like drivers’ license number, and signature? This seems to offer a lot more opportunity for theft. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/22 "2010-12-07T20:43:40Z")
We get bills delivered in paper form. I don’t trust some quirk of a spam filter making them hard to see, and my wife saves some of them for taxes, so it is easier to get hard copies. We pay most on-line. Exceptions are our mortgage, because our bank doesn’t have a way of paying extra principal on-line, and some bills, like the gas company, which you can only pay on-line if you sign up for purely electronic billing. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/23 "2010-12-07T21:22:56Z")
At 44, I have a foot in both worlds. I still get paper bills because the utility companies refuse to acknowledge wives as legitimate account holders (I’d have to get my husband to make the changes and that’s just humiliating since I’m the finance person in the family), plus I also operate on the “Put them in a pile where I can see them so I pay them” method of bill paying, but I pay everything online. Our paycheques are deposited automatically and our mortgage and car insurance payments come out automatically. I still need a chequing account and cheques for things like today - I had a repairman fix our garage door, and had to write him a cheque for $250. I never have $250 in cash on me. As for the reliability of online banking, I’ve had one error in the decade or so I’ve been using it, and that was my fault - my finger slipped on the “ok” button and I paid the gas bill twice. I’ve had far more errors from brick and mortar banks. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/24 "2010-12-07T21:24:17Z")
My local utility for electric, DTE, promoted online bill payment. OK, I’m in I said. I went to the site and tried to sign up for the service. They wanted bank accounts and a credit card and too much personal information. I was prepared to give it to them because I trusted them. The site kept crashing and I didn’t know whether I was signed up or not or whether they would do something with my information. I proceeded to opt out. From now on I’ve decided they will get a stamp until I die. If they can’t manage their own web site, I no longer trust them with the security of my private information. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/25 "2010-12-07T21:27:18Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > For the most part, I pay bills online. But I still prefer to receive a paper bill in the mail. My lame reasoning for this is that I tend to pay all my bills once a month and if the paper bill is not sitting there in the pile then it won’t get paid. Same here. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/26 "2010-12-07T21:27:26Z")
I pay all my bills by check except the mortgage, which I pay on line. I like doing it that way. It’s not a matter of security or fear, I just like writing the checks, keeping tabs in the paper register, etc. I have 2 credit card accounts that I can’t figure out how to get them to send me monthly statements in the mail. So I go online, click on the statement, PRINT off the statement and then send payment via check in an envelope I address myself. I’m 42. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/27 "2010-12-07T21:30:47Z")
> [@Al\_Bundy](#): > > My local utility for electric, DTE, promoted online bill payment. OK, I’m in I said. I went to the site and tried to sign up for the service. They wanted bank accounts and a credit card and too much personal information. I was prepared to give it to them because I trusted them. The site kept crashing and I didn’t know whether I was signed up or not or whether they would do something with my information. I proceeded to opt out. From now on I’ve decided they will get a stamp until I die. If they can’t manage their own web site, I no longer trust them with the security of my private information. That sounds perfectly fair. I’m not familiar with receiving bills online - it would seem to me that they don’t need all your banking information just to send you an online bill, do they? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/28 "2010-12-07T21:34:13Z")
I’m not quite check-free, but close. I pay my rent with a check since my landlord would charge a fee to e-pay, and I occasionally write other checks for charity and such. Like the poster above, I haven’t bought checks in about four years–but I’ll probably be putting an order in soon. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/29 "2010-12-07T21:34:30Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > I pay all my bills by check except the mortgage, which I pay on line. I like doing it that way. It’s not a matter of security or fear, I just like writing the checks, keeping tabs in the paper register, etc. \ I pay the paper bills online, then I write the date, amount I paid, and reference number from the payment on the bill and file it. Why yes, I AM an accounting clerk - how did you know? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/30 "2010-12-07T21:45:17Z")
I find it interesting that so many Dopers have so many bills that unless it’s in their “pile,” they’d forget to pay it. I know I’m an anomaly with my few bills, but I can’t imagine having so many I couldn’t keep track of them. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/31 "2010-12-07T21:54:55Z")
> [@Al\_Bundy](#): > > My local utility for electric, DTE, promoted online bill payment. OK, I’m in I said. I went to the site and tried to sign up for the service. They wanted bank accounts and a credit card and too much personal information. I was prepared to give it to them because I trusted them. The site kept crashing and I didn’t know whether I was signed up or not or whether they would do something with my information. I proceeded to opt out. From now on I’ve decided they will get a stamp until I die. If they can’t manage their own web site, I no longer trust them with the security of my private information. Yeah, I probably wouldn’t pay online as much if I had to pay via each individual website. I pay them all from my bank’s website. If they can’t get paid that way then they get a check. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/32 "2010-12-07T21:59:21Z")
Don’t most of your bills just come automatically, or do you guys not trust automatic transfers? Everything comes that way for me except stuff like doctor’s bills and my car insurance and taxes and stuff. I do need a checkbook for dumb crap like paying for parking and the yard guy and the plumber. ---
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/33 "2010-12-07T22:08:21Z")
I pay via phone or online, rarely in person, or I don’t usually pay until they threaten me with a collector who will accept a payment that way. Snail mail is for slugs. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/34 "2010-12-07T22:20:59Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > I find it interesting that so many Dopers have so many bills that unless it’s in their “pile,” they’d forget to pay it. I know I’m an anomaly with my few bills, but I can’t imagine having so many I couldn’t keep track of them. For all of us, it’s not the height of the pile, but the length of the attention span. I once lost a CD on a desk that only had _one other frakking thing on it_. It was not one of my prouder moments. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/35 "2010-12-07T22:25:33Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > For all of us, it’s not the height of the pile, but the length of the attention span. I once lost a CD on a desk that only had _one other frakking thing on it_. It was not one of my prouder moments. I know! I know! It was in your hand. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![skylar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@skylar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skylar)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/36 "2010-12-07T22:47:46Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Really? No checking account at all? I’d love to go without one, but it sure seems like there’s always one or two holdouts that absolutely positively require checks. One is my favorite pizza delivery place - they only take checks or cash for delivered pizzas and too often I don’t have cash. Other one is the guy who plows our driveway in the winter. He’s just a guy, not a business, and he sends a bill once a month or so that I pay with a check. What else? I know there’s a couple more. I only write 8-10 checks a year, but it would be a major hassle to not have a checking account for those instances. > > Oh yeah, the IRS. Quarterly filings to the Feds and the State as I’m self-employed. I don’t think those can be payed without a check… can they? No, I have a checking account…it’s attached to a check card, which can be run as credit or debit…or I can use my account/routing numbers online or over the phone. You’re right, I will need checks one day if, say, I own a house and I’m paying a gardener or something. The only time I’ve needed a check so far was when I had to send a fee to my state’s court reporters board so I could take a state exam, and I had to get my boyfriend to write me a check and I gave him cash in exchange…eh, I guess I do need checks after all! 😛 I hope I didn’t offend anyone by saying it’s an age thing. I’m just making an observation. My dad is only 55 and thinks it’s crazy to put your information out on the internet, and I see what he’s saying, but all my peers seem to pay bills online with few problems. Identity theft is out there, but I take precautions…I even purposely get a new card every year in case someone has my info. I read about all the iTunes fraud, too, so I don’t have my checking account or credit cards hooked up to my iTunes account. I just use gift cards…way safer. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/37 "2010-12-07T22:57:16Z")
**CatWhisperer** , that’s pretty bad. My mom had to deal with something similar a year ago - I think it was downgrading (or upgrading?) the cable package. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/38 "2010-12-07T23:48:22Z")
I pay bills online, at my creditor’s website. I don’t sign up for automatic payments; I want control over when and how much comes out of my bank account. So the only ones that still get checks are my landlord and the electric company. (And the oddities like the dentist and the government.) I’m down to something like 30 checks a year, and probably have a year-and-a-half to go on the last of the 200 checks I ordered way back when I was still in Colorado! I’m still mostly getting paper bills. I’ve moved a couple of them over to email, and that seems to be working OK, so I expect I’ll do the rest soon. I keep a budget on paper, and last month’s payment records remind me of what I need to pay this month. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/39 "2010-12-07T23:52:37Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I know! I know! It was in your hand. 🙂 No, it was under the one other thing. And I laid my hand on that thing I don’t know how many _gorram_ times, and never thought I needed to pick it up and look under it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298/40 "2010-12-07T23:56:44Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > For all of us, it’s not the height of the pile, but the length of the attention span. I once lost a CD on a desk that only had _one other frakking thing on it_. It was not one of my prouder moments. I check to make sure I have pants on when I leave the house. **Diosa** will understand in a decade or two. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-and-pay-your-bills-online-if-not-why/563298.md?page=3)