I certainly have not interacted with any that do. Possibly large companies will, but not independent plumbers or electricians
I too stopped using personal checks for anything. I now use a credit card especially for bills, groceries, anything I would have used checks for previously. I then, of course, pay that CC bill off each month and the money on that bill is the same amount as it would have been when using a checking account. It’s a great way to keep track of all outgoing monies.
For the rare times I have to write a check I write it on an account from what I call my backup bank. I find out ahead what the check will be written for, transfer that amount from my credit union to the checking in the secondary bank. There’s nothing in that account to steal except the amount the check was originally written for.
1 Like
Keep just enough money in your checking account to cover the bill.
You’re assuming that that is the issue…not that there is a bad actor illegally hacking an account, or an inept banking protocol that charges or over charges inappropriately.
I can have more than plenty of money in my account to pay legitimate bills, but should an illegal or inept attempt to access my account be considered my fault, or something I should plan on occurring?
I now use a cash back credit card to purchase as much as possible, except the house cleaner.
I then pay the credit card in full before the due date, so to be sure to get money back into my checking account or credit to my charge card.
I have made over Eight Hundred Dollars fair far this year 2024
With autopay, you are forced to reconcile billing discrepancies in arrears - meaning your money is tied up in their favor while you dispute the bill. With autopay, if there is an event that causes things to go offline in your area, you cannot mitigate deposit transfers timely to ensure there are adequate funds during different times of the month and ahead of billing. Also, with autopay, you are setting up a domino effect that if something goes wrong with the initial payment (i.e. a gross overcharge error) then you will bounce all the subsequent payments and have to reconcile those respectively as well.
This is true, however I always look at what the biller is going to pull from me. They never just make it up randomly. It’s known for weeks in advance, long enough time to switch off the auto-pull and find out what the issue is.