Posted on 07/29/2005 8:47:27 PM PDT by The Other Harry
I have been fooling around with this for a year or so.
My experience has been that it works wonderfully for known vendors like utility companies. Flawlessly.
Last Monday I tried paying my property taxes that way. Today I called to determine if the money had been received.
Not.
The money was gone from my account, but it had disappeared. Maybe they put it on the Discovery.
I'll get this figured out -- about three hours from next Monday morning. That's if I can get to someone who will answer their phone.
Ruh-roh! I use one as well. Sometimes it takes a bit longer and the ones receiving don't put in their records until the next 2 business days.
dude... RF.. LOL You must be talking about BOA I pay all my bills via them except my mortage which I pay through them debiting my checking account. Now, BOA sucks when it comes to debiting transactions from your account because they are in it to make money. I can go out and use my debit card at four or five place in a single day, well the large chage wont show up for several days, but the smaller charges show up immediately. Iguess they are waiting for me to over charge my account so they can make a buck. This happens ALL the time. I can have a few hundred in the account, charge 2oo, 20, 30, 10, 12, and 45, in the same day and the 200 doesn't show up for a few days.... I guess they are waiting (holding) it until my balance goes below 200 so they can collect on my poor check keeping, but fortunately they never get a dime from me because I watch my balances. BOA Sucks, but online bill pay works ONLY IF YOU KEEP TRACK OF YOUR BALANCE!
I've paid my property taxes online a couple of times. IIRC, they are processed by a separate entity, therefore it takes a couple of days for it to show up with the state. Just keep checking.
As it turned out, the 2nd lady didn't know zilch either. Basically, all they knew to tell me was that their bank used "the highest level of encryption possible." Beyond that, they didn't know anything about wireless network connections and possible security breaches. It didn't give me a lot of confidence. I've done the electronic bill-paying in the past and loved it, but never over a wireless setup. Even though they assured me I'd only be liable for $50 if something happened..., still.
Am I being paranoid? All opinions are welcome here. I'm behind 3 firewalls (2 hardware, 1 software), but still...
Wireless or not, as far as I know all transactions of this sort are conducted using Secure Socket Layer, which encrypts the data from your computer to the bank or whoever you are paying. You can see a little padlock on your browser indicating it is in secure mode. Bill paying online has an excellent record for security. There are other ways bad guys get credit card information, but generally not by eavesdropping on transactions. I think you are more at risk when you use your credit card in the store. You are handing a stranger your credit card with all the info on it he or she needs to misuse it.
What you're saying makes a lot of sense. Thanks. I wish I knew a lot more about networking. If anyone out there knows a forum that talks about this (on a level I can understand), please toss me a link.
Thanks for your comments. And have a great weekend!
I just read your homepage. I take back what I said about enjoying the weekend. Instead, thank you for serving our country!
You are a brave soul! When dealing with my local tax collector I want as much of a paper trail as I can get. My township uses a part-time tax collector who's organizational skills are a little wanting.
Yes, the challenge seems to lie in getting an actual human on the phone in these situations. Been there.
I have to pay all of my bills online since I'm overseas. So far, so good, but I did have to call a credit card company last year and that was quite a fiasco. When I finally did get a human on the phone, his English was so bad and the satellite connection here wasn't making it any easier and I just about gave up.
Good luck to ya. You have my empathy. ;-)
I think you are wise.
I too live in a small town, and my guess is that any mistake on this lies with with town. It could be that I screwed up something, but I don't think so. BofA does not seem to make mistakes.
The city office is just down the road from me. It is very easy to go down there, pay the bill, and get a stamped receipt. That is what I will do in the future.
Also, if the city screws up on something like an electronic payment, they will still charge you a 10% penalty. They can't do that if you have a receipt.
If I didn't feel secure with BOA I wouldnt be using them. All I am saying is that there posting practices appear to be a little "unethical".
Is there any aspect of your life that you can handle without posting a vanity?
BOA? Nope. Never heard of them. I use Paytrust.
Very few.
Besides, there is no requirement that you read my posts, much less that you post into them.
Besides besides, it was time to change my subject. I will likely do it again. Soon.
Also, I think electronic bill payment is something many of us deal with and / or think about.
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