Electronic Bill Paying and Electronic Banking
Electronic banking, also known as electronic fund transfer (EFT), uses computer and electronic technology as a substitute for checks and other paper transactions. EFTs are initiated through devices such as cards or codes that you use to gain access to your account. Many financial institutions use an automated teller machine (ATM) card and a personal identification number (PIN) for this purpose. The federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFT Act) covers some consumer transactions (www.vipcredit.com).
Electronic bill payment allows bills to be paid with a personal computer. This includes scheduling one-time or recurring payments to any payee(s) that the account holder chooses. A database of payees is included for easy access of payee information. This feature also allows the account holder to view payment history (www.gcefcu.org).
**MsMoney.com: Great site describing both electronic banking and electronic banking**
Electronic Bill-Paying:
Electronic Bill Payment User's Guide (federal credit union)
Paytrust.com (bill management company)
With Paytrust.com there are no more bills in your mailbox, no more checks to write, and no more bills to mail. Because Paytrust.com makes keeping track of bills a snap, you'll have no more missed payments or late fees!
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Electronic Bill Paying (article)
The leader in electronic bill payment services is Checkfree, with 70 percent of the market of e-bill payers. More than 350 banks and financial services offer electronic bill paying services through Checkfree; if your bank doesn't participate, you can sign up on your own for a monthly fee.
Banks Buy Into Electronic Bill Paying (article)
Consumers have been reluctant to say "the check is in the email." But that may change following several recent efforts to kick-start the electronic bill-paying industry.
In the most recent example of the industry's push to get consumers to pay their bills online, 11 major U.S. banks said yesterday they will join a banking consortium called Spectrum.
Electronic Bill-Paying is Not a Perfect World (article)
``Electronic bill-paying is being oversold to consumers,'' said Ken McEldowney, executive director of Consumer Action, an advocacy organization based in San Francisco. In some cases, McEldowney and others say, the systems may deliver the opposite of what they promise: more delayed payments, more late fees, and more hard-to-spot, hard-to-correct problems.
Online Bill-Paying is Still Waiting for the Big Payoff (article)
But unlike online investing and online banking, which are quickly gaining popularity, paying bills via the Web is an option many aren't even aware exists. That's despite the fact that most big banks let customers pay bills from their Web sites and many have offered some form of online banking for years. Internet portals Yahoo! and MSN.com recently joined a handful of brokerages and personal-finance programs like Quicken and Microsoft Money in offering the service. America Online will follow in the spring.
Electronic Banking:
Electronic Banking Resource Library
Faulkner & Gray: an online banking industry magazine
Wingspanbank.com: an Internet-only bank providing online bill paying service
American Savings Bank: provides e-banking and e-bill paying services
Journal of Internet Banking and CommerceOnline Banking (article)
Modern life is complicated, and finances-business or personal-are never easy to manage. Online banking and bill paying can help. Although expensive and clunky versions of cyber banking have been around for more than a decade, these services first became cost effective and easy to use at the end of 1994, when they were offered in conjunction with personal finance managers: Microsoft Money, Intuit Quicken, and Managing Your Money, which is owned by a consortium of banks. During the past several months, the top two double-entry accounting programs for small to mid-sized businesses-Intuit QuickBooks Pro and Peachtree Complete Accounting-have also jumped on the online banking bandwagon.
E-banking Saves Consumers Money (article)
We’ll assume Sophia visits the supermarket six times throughout the month, paying by cheque each time (her free transactions cover four of these). She goes to the bank eight times for cash withdrawals over the counter (four of these are also free). She also writes four cheques during the month (two of which are free) to pay her bills, needing two stamps for postage. Including debits tax for the cheque facility transactions, all this costs her $17.90.