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See if your bank offers bill pay!
what the experts say
"Move your financial transactions online by turning off paper invoices, statements and checks, including paychecks, and replacing them with electronic versions where offered by employers, banks, utilities or merchants. Avoid mailing checks to pay bills or deposit funds in your banking account. Instead, pay bills online and use remote deposit check imaging services on online banking sites."
~ Javelin Strategy & Research, Safety Tips to Protect Consumers from Identity Fraud
"Paying bills online is simply a no-brainer. It saves you time and money, saves millions of trees from being clear-cut and used for paper, and saves companies' money — savings that may eventually be passed along to you."
~ David Bach and Hillary Rosner, "Go Green, Live Rich: 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth and Get Rich Trying"
“If you haven't started paying all your bills online, you're missing out on one of the best and fastest-growing uses of the Internet. Most banks, savings and loans, and credit unions offer free online bill payment to their customers, saving you the cost of stamps and printed checks.”
~ Terry Savage, "The Savage Number"
“Go paperless. Shredding will eliminate your paper trail. Even easier is to receive and pay bills online, which ensures that info can't be lifted from stolen mail. Plus, with 24-hour account access, you'll see an unauthorized charge on your card right away.”
~ Money, “The Easy Way: Protect Your Identity”
“Online access helps improve your financial security, rather than detracting from it. Besides, it’s easier and faster than trying to do things the old-fashioned way with checks and monthly statements…Use online bill pay. It’s faster, safer and easier to track than putting checks in the mail.”
~ US News & World Report, “Simple Savings Steps”
“Online banking [and bill pay] saves you time and saves you late fees — which in turn helps safeguard your credit rating.”
~ Reader’s Digest, “Online Banking: Smarter and Safer Than Ever”
“Switch to tree-free billing and pay those bills online with the click of a button or an automatic debit. Approximately one billion trees-worth of paper are trashed each year in the U.S., and hard copy bills alone generate almost two million tons of carbon dioxide. Both you and the planet will be happier without the excess garbage.”
~ The Green Guide (a National Geographic Society publication), Earth Day Tips
“Receiving your bills and account statements electronically reduces fuel consumption and saves trees, and it usually doesn’t cost you anything.”
~ USA Today, “Want to help save 16.5 million trees a year? View and pay bills online”
“Pay bills online. The process is speedy, cuts down on paper clutter in your home, and spares you from scrounging for stamps. All major banks and credit unions now let you pay bills online, and an increasing number allow you to receive your bills at their Web sites as well. Most banks provide the service at no charge. If you're worried about online identity theft, relax. Paying bills online is actually safer than sending checks through the mail.”
~ Consumer Reports, “10 easy steps to the simple (financial) life”
“I pay my bills online — and love it. It is largely responsible for the fact that I'm organized. It saves me time. It saves me money. Managing my money online has changed my life. It takes a little bit of time to set up your accounts — it took me about an hour — and you're going to be a little slow while you get used to the interface, go through the process of memorizing your passwords, and so forth. But once you're up and running, paying your bills online is the way to go.”
~ Jean Chatzky, “Make Money, Not Excuses”
“Eliminating your paper trail by banking and paying bills online does more than save trees. It also helps reduce fuel consumption by the trucks and planes that transport paper checks. If every U.S. home viewed and paid its bills online, the switch would cut solid waste by 1.6 billion tons a year and curb greenhouse-gas emissions by 2.1 million tons a year, according to Javelin Strategy & Research. Worried about security? Don't be. Just ignore e-mails "phishing" for personal data, and monitor all (electronic) statements for any unauthorized debits. Report problems immediately, and your credit won't take the hit. To avoid unnecessary carbon dioxide-emitting car trips to the bank on payday, ask your employer to directly deposit your paycheck. You'll get your money faster that way too.”
~ Time Global Warming Survivor Guide: 51 Things We can Do To Save the Environment
