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Would like opinions (and facts!) on what is considered safer: paying a bill by mail, phone, or online (mainly concerned with credit cards). Identity theft / fraud is possible all 3 ways. Do the companies have any kind of security when it comes to leaving your bank account info on their automated phone system?
Would like opinions (and facts!) on what is considered safer: paying a bill by mail, phone, or online (mainly concerned with credit cards). Identity theft / fraud is possible all 3 ways. Do the companies have any kind of security when it comes to leaving your bank account info on their automated phone system?
The only safe and secure method to pay your bills is via the U.S.Mail.
Once the post office has your mail it becomes a federal felony to tamper with, divert,steal, or otherwise remove a single piece of mail from the post offices care until it is delivered and the patron takes possession of that mail.ie...mail box to mail box.
Should a piece of mail get stolen there are Federal Postal Officers that will investigate and/or prosecute this tampering as a crime. Fraud that uses the mail is also a federal crime.
Wait a sec, something being a federal crime makes it the only safe and secure method? Can we then assume that nobody cheats on taxes, robs banks, scams medicare or welfare, counterfeits money, or imports drugs? Postal is the only "safe and secure" method so nobody breaks open mailboxes?
I'm not so sure that putting a check into an envelope at the end of your driveway, then putting a flag up to indicate something is in there, having various postal workers handle it, then someone receiving it opening it up to type in your payment is the more secure.
I prefer paying online, as soon as you click you have an electronic record that you paid and there is way less chance of someone I don't know handling my personal information. That is where most crime happens imo, someone I don't know handling my personal information.
Fro what I have seen the mail is not only not safe for its employees but its alos not called snail mail for nothign. I prefer to pay by crdit card ober the telephone and then vaifying by internet. Never has a problems but there can be problem with anyhting. The only problem I have had is several loss or late payments by mial.Luckily the checks were never cashed and I stopped payment.
I must disagree with Tightwad. In my reading about this, people who are supposed to know say that the U.S. Mail is the least secure method. This makes sense to me based on my own experience with mail which has gone astray. At least once a month I get stuff delivered to me by mistake. Once I walked next door after dark, rang the bell, and delivered the mis-directed mail. Now I am honest, but if I weren't, I could have opened that mail. Sure, they have postal inspectors, but if your check was not received and it wasn't certified or registered, how can the inspector possibly track it given the volume of mail that each carrier delivers each day?
I have used my bank's bill pay service for five or six years now without mishap. I no longer write very many checks at all. Many of the larger companies have "e-bills" whereby your payment is deposited electronically by the bank's bill pay service into the company's bank account, and you are properly credited. There is no paper check at all, and of course nothing goes through the U.S. Mail. This is the most secure way.
Exactly. Not only do I believe electronic payment has the least likely of mishap (again because less human factor) but if something is amiss you have a much better chance of an electronic trail to discover and correct or dispute.
I can swear up and down I put something in a mailbox but there really isn't much evidence as it traverses truck to truck to sorter to truck to plane to truck to sorter to truck to delivery to mailroom guy to receiving dept ... but as soon as I click pay it shows up on the screen as a payment.
Thank you; my thinking is in line with slackjaw....I don't like how people can hold up an envelope and see a check in there. I can't figure how any postal crime (stealing mail) is ever solved. As far as online payments go, I know the websites are secure, but can't they still be hacked? I would love more input on paying by phone...is it better to talk to a person rather than the automated system? They want you to talk to the machine; do credit card companies have some type of security regarding their practices? I don't read the fine print. Obviously paying in person is not an option.
think about the fact anyone today can duplicate a check... i can go on line and download a company logo... i can call a company and tell them i want to send payment and i can get the routing numbers. i can go on line to the company annual report and get the signatures of the officers and download them.... then i can print my own company checks from that company
nothing is any safer or a better way anymore.....
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U.S. Mail is the least secure method
