From Debit card: PIN or no PIN? - #42 by Tripler
The following was a reply to a post that described writing checks for items like PBS memberships that need the membership slip mailed back with the payment.
Is it really possible in other countries to pay all of your bills through the bank’s website, without the bank ever having to mail a check? I just checked my very large bank’s billpay site and although there are payees listed in every state of the US, none of my doctors are listed. Which is not surprising to me - how could any one bank possibly have all the doctors ( lawn care companies, newspapers, pest control services, small landlords etc) in the US listed in their bill pay system? Some of then I can pay through the website of the billing entity but if it’s an infrequent bill, it isn’t necessarily easier than writing and mailing a check.
I can’t just email a payment unless the recipient has or is willing to set up Venmo or Zelle or something - and in any event, I need to have an email address to send it to , which I’m not always going to have ( I wouldn’t be surprised if my garage landlord doesn’t even have an email address).
I’m not sure if that’s a matter of the US banking system being backward so much as it’s just a difference in business practices between countries - maybe in other places, doctors never have solo practices with a billing clerk mailing out bills and collecting payments. Or all children’s sports organizations do their billing through a large entity that does show up on bank bill pay sites.
Or maybe it’s just that people have different situations - none of my doctors show up on my bank’s bill pay site, but I’m sure there are plenty of people in the US who can pay all their bills through their bank’s site and maybe there are people in Canada or wherever who can’t.