[briankirby]

Alternatively, I never started using Venmo because I never trusted a third party to have my banking data. Now I use Zelle because it's backed by my bank, and since basically everyone I know now has it by default from their bank, I have seen pretty high adoption rates with my friends.

[majormajor]

> I never trusted a third party to have my banking data

How do you pay bills? I know some banks offer their own bill pay services, but I've never tested them out, and use the utilities' sites.

[ocdtrekkie]

After being extremely hesitant to do it for years, I set up bill pay through my bank, partly to save on stamps (some of my utilities have truly atrocious online payment systems that drove me away). It has no fees, and for some utilities, it actually connects with their billing systems well enough for it to notify you of bills and let you view them, right through your bank's website, and then schedule the payment. With my municipal bill, I still get a paper bill, but I can enter the amount and my bank will handle issuing the payment, still without a fee.

[deecewan]

Reading this makes me realise how good Australia is in this regard.

We have 'BPay', which every* bank supports from within their apps, and almost all bills support. We have instant intra-bank transfers and next-day inter-bank transfers.

Additionally, the big 4 banks (yup, we have just 4 big banks) have mobile payments, so you can link your mobile number to an account and receive payments into it. It's painful if you're with different banks, but the net result is that no-one* here uses PayPal, et. al, to transfer money to each other.

And now, we've just had PayID roll out, which is instant payments based on email or phone number to any of the banks (I think most banks in AU are participating, but it's backed by our Reserve Bank), which is a huge game changer and pretty much negates the need for a third-party to do this for us.

[henrikschroder]

> Reading this makes me realise how good Australia is in this regard.

I'm from Sweden, I started paying bills through my internet bank over 20 years ago. And it was never difficult or a big deal, because the existing giro-based bill system that every vendor uses and has been using since the 1960's, slotted right into it, with zero technical integration required from the payees.

Moving to the US was like stepping into a time machine when it comes to dealing with banks and bills, it's ridiculously backwards. And Americans generally have no idea how behind they are. It's so fucking frustrating having this discussion every single time.

[briandear]

LOL. Spend some time dealing with French banks and then we can talk about American banks. France is a place where people actually write checks for things and you have to physically visit your specific branch to accomplish certain transactions. The concept of “branch banking” hasn’t made it to France yet. Even withdrawing cash from a bank requires an appointment (if you want to withdrawal over a few hundred Euros for instance.)

French banks are a nightmare conpared to American ones.

[ryanhuff]

Traditional bill pay services have probably reached peak adoption, and will slowly tail off. Paying bills directly with the vendor / service provider with a credit/debit card is growing (in the U.S.).

[hedora]

Agreed. Also, incorrect charge? Call the utility. If that fails, call the credit card, and ask for a “charge back”, and tell them you called the bank. Problem solved, and the bank extracts a cut of the reversed charge from the vendor. (In the US)

Also, you probably get cash back on the normal payments, and other bill pay methods let the utility pocket that (plus the credit card company’s cut).

Having said all that, I wish the govt would ban credit card transaction fees, and provide a secure anonymous alternative, but I don’t make the rules, and, as a consumer, I pay the 1-3% transaction fee tax either way...

[JoshTriplett]

I pay bills using credit cards whenever possible. For the very few that don't, or that charge exorbitant fees for doing so (e.g. rent), I use Chase's bill-pay service.

[pishpash]

Always use a throwaway account for third party services with debiting privileges and keep no money in it normally. Yes ACH has a trail but why take the risk of having to fight it out.