Hey all - anyone have any opinions about online bill pay for Philadelphia's utilities and/or phone/cable/etc companies? One of my goals for next year is to go paperless at home, for as many bills and financial statements (banks, etc) as I can.
My current bills which I pay by check are:
- PECO
- PGW
- Verizon Wireless
- Cavalier Telephone
- Water Revenue Bureau (anyone use Zip Check option?)

Please let me know any experiences good or bad that I should consider before going paperless. Thanks.

www.mycheckfree.com

You can get verizon, PGW, PECO, and Philly Water through that. As well as tons others. It's free...very convenient, never had a problem. I haven't written a check for a bill in years.

__________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that. -George Carlin

i pay all my bills through my banks online bill pay

check it out too if its available

Yes...to be more specific, I actually pay all my bills through MS Money and my bank's online bill pay. But I get the bills through www.mycheckfree.com for those who don't offer their own online billing. You can also pay your bills through that site as well if you don't have online bill pay from your bank.

__________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that. -George Carlin

Yes, my bank also offers free online bill payment and I've been using it for probably 3 years now. In all that time I've only had one payment (a cut check, not an electronic transfer) go astray.

__________________
---Shosh

Anyone use ING Electric Orange checking for their bank? They have a bill pay option but I think to make it work I need the bank account of the utilities that I want to pay. Is this the way all of the online pay providers work. The easier option may be to go directly onto the web site of the utility, e.g. Verizon Wireless has an online bill pay option I am looking at doing for my next bill.

I currently have a checking account with Commerce Bank but I'm looking to move a lot of my banking activities online, via the ING checking account, since it actually pays 5x what the interest in my Commerce savings account pays.

Back when I did online billpay, the bank had an agreement with the utilities/companies to do electronic transfers, and I'd just choose from a list. For the ones that weren't on the list, I'd enter a mailing address and they'd cut a check and mail it there.

I tried paying my water bill at PWD's website a couple years ago, when I first bought my house, because they weren't sending me bills, and it was charging me more than I owed, then it didn't take my credit card. They may have fixed the problem by know, but who knows.

__________________
Welcome to Philadelphia. Here's how you can help us make our great city even better:

• Write to your state and local elected officials
• Report suspicious activity to the police department

No....you just fill out the name and address of who you are paying and they will transfer funds directly to them if they have them in their database, otherwise they cut and print the check for you. I've even used it to send checks to family members.

__________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that. -George Carlin

and usually after they send them a paper check the first time, they're able to do it by EFT the next time.

I use my credit union's online bill paying service (free!). The only checks I've written in the last 18-24 months have been to the dog walker, cleaning people and doctor.

__________________

I love the free online bill pay service offered at my bank. I just give them the info they request and the handle the rest. I have my rent set to automatically be sent each month, so I never have to think about it. I have it set for the day after I get my paycheck direct deposited, so the money is gone before I have a chance to spend it.

As soon as I get a bill in the mail, I go online and set up the payment to occur on any future date I choose.