We
all have “senior moments” and briefly forget a name, something at the
store, or even why we went downstairs in the first place. Such a slip-up
might be embarrassing or disconcerting, but it usually doesn’t cost
anything—unless the moment is financial in nature, such as forgetting to
pay a bill. In that case, online bill payment can be a lifesaver.
A quarter of Americans pay their bills late and the top reason—cited
by 61% of late payers in one survey—is that they simply forgot. The No.
3 reason is they lost the bill and No. 5 is that they procrastinated
past the due date.
In
each of those cases, online bill payment is an easy fix. With bank
payment tools and many other apps you can enter a payment in any amount
the day you get a bill, and choose the day you want to make the payment.
Done. No forgetting. No lost bills. No procrastination issues.
Better
still, you can set automatic monthly payments for recurring charges
like a mortgage or car payment. You may want to set automatic minimum
monthly payments for a regularly used credit card—so that you won’t
incur a late fee if you miss a payment. (You will, however, suffer an
interest charge if the balance is not paid in full.)
Another
benefit that can be especially valuable for seniors: Getting and paying
bills online makes it easier if you are a snowbird or own a vacation
home and split time between two residences.
Yet
while online bill paying has become increasingly popular, millions
still pay what they owe the old-fashioned way and risk the costs of
forgetfulness.
Consumers paid a record $3.9 trillion in monthly bills last year, according to a report
from electronic payments firm ACI Worldwide and research firm Aite
Group. There has been a clear shift towards online payments since 2010,
according to the report.
More
than eight billion bills—56% of all bills—are now paid online via a
biller, bank or third-party website, according to the report. Bills paid
by check have fallen 20% while bills paid by credit card—typically
online—have doubled.
As
you might expect, younger generations are leading the shift. Just 15%
of millennials’ bills are paid by mail; for seniors, that figure is 40%,
according to the report. Millennials pay 61% of their bills online
while seniors pay 42% of their bills online.
The
clear trend is for more online payments among all generations. That’s a
good thing as the convenience and flexibility are unrivaled—to say
nothing of the costs of buying checks, envelopes and stamps. But
retirees should bear in mind that going electronic also means they
should make certain a loved one or trusted individual has access to
their digital accounts in case of disability or death.
Yahoo Finance
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