Online Billing: Pros and Cons

Date Posted: May 28, 2009

“Go Paperless!” the bill implored, against a not-so-subtle backdrop of giant redwoods. And in case we’d missed the point, they added: “It’s Secure, Simple and Environmentally Sound.”  Fine.  But is it a good idea? 

 

It is for the company – it costs Georgia Power over $1 million a month to send out bills to its 2.3 million customers, meaning that if just half of us“went paperless,” the company would pocket another $6 million a year.  But what about the customer?

 

There’s nothing new about paying bills by automatic deduction.  For years people have been having their mortgage, car payment or (even) their contribution to the church deducted automatically from their accounts each month.

 

What’s new about going paperless is that bills which vary month-to-month can be paid without a paper trail.  That’s the good news . . . and the bad news. 

 

First the good news.  If you go paperless, the bill is sent directly to your computer, so you: cut down on mail, eliminate the duplication of filing pieces of paper when you have an electronic record and you won’t misplace the bill in a pile of papers.

 

The bad news?  Without the cue of the “piece of paper,” you could forget to pay the bill.  So, if you “go paperless,” think of an alternative system to keep track of when bills are due and when they’ve been paid.  A dedicated calendar is one possibility.  But regardless, you need some system.  This is a whole new way of doing business, and you need to adjust to it.

 

There are also some technological considerations  Your computer might be down for a while and you won’t receive your bills.  Or – and this happened to us – your internet provider might shut down, leaving you scrambling for service.  The old adage about not putting all your eggs in one basket applies here.

 

“Going paperless” is closely linked to paying online.  Lots of you probably already enjoy the savings in time (quicker than checks) and money (no stamps) which paying online affords. You know, then, that you can specify the date you want the bill to be paid and easily check to see what has been paid.

 

Remember, though, that the process isn’t instantaneous.  There’s a lag of as much as four days in paying some bills.  And, if you have multiple accounts, make sure you’re paying the right one (yep, that happened to us too).  Finally, the technological issues mentioned above apply here, too.

 

So, what’s the bottom line?  Well, millions of us find it convenient to pay bills online.  In truth, “going paperless” is probably the wave of the future.  So think about it, prepare for it and work out your own system to replace that box of mills marked due.  Make the change on your own terms.