Let us look into the main benefits of paying the bills online:

Easy

Using online bill pay allows you to save on time. Instead of writing out checks, gluing stamps and keeping a file of papers, setting up an online account can get rid of these steps. It will also be much easier and faster to manage your debt.

When you need to go over previous bills, you do not have to waste time looking for them because all of your account details are located in one centralized location.

Cost-Effective

Online bill payment enables you to save on postage stamp costs. On the average, a household receives 15 bills every month, amounting to $70 in postage costs per year.

Try to avoid late fees that can be incurred when payment is made after the due date. When you miss payments, this could bring about:

• Higher interest rates;
• Over limit fees and late fees;
• When payment is overdue, your account could be placed on collection status.

Convenient

To manage debt more conveniently and efficiently, go for automatic online bill payment solutions. Creating an account will enable you to set up recurring payments that will regularly be withdrawn from your account. This way, you can minimize the possibility of late or lost payments, saving time during the process.

Even if any of your bills is due the following day, online bill pay makes sure your payment is posted right on schedule.

What consumers should watch out for

There is always some kind of risk involved whenever doing transactions by electronic means. This may only be minimal, but it continues to increase due to the development of more sophisticated hacking techniques.

Over the last few years, a technique called “phishing” has become a major concern. Phishers give out fraudulent messages (via a web page pop-up or email) that are intended to deceive you into sharing your personal account details. Such messages often look legit (with their company logos etc.) so they can easily trick consumers when they are not too careful. According to a recent study, 57 million Americans have been sent phishing emails, and of that number, almost 2 million individuals have been tricked into giving their personal account info to a counterfeit source.

How to Avoid Scams

Consider the following tips to stay away from online scams:

• Review your online banking transactions on a regular basis to make sure there is no suspicious activity going on.
• Change your online passwords every 1 to 2 months. Always choose a password that has upper and lower case letters, plus symbols to reduce the chance to be guessed.
• Watch out for fraudulent emails. Even if an email looks legitimate (with a logo), it may have been sent by a fraudulent source. If the email wants you to verify or update your personal account information immediately, do not respond to the email.
• When you get an email from an unknown source, make sure to delete it. If you mistakenly open the email, do not click on any of the links. You might download a virus to your computer. If the email looks legitimate, type the web address in your browser instead of clicking on the link.
• Keep the anti-spam and anti-virus spam software on your computer. This will help you to block out spam and junk mail.

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Landlords continue to search for efficient ways to manage rent payment collections. The traditional way of collecting rent from tenants who pay in the form of a check may still be comfortable for some property owners, but this could also bring about some problems. Checks can get misplaced or lost on their way to you, or tenants may forget to hand over that check on the first day of the month, making you spend more time and effort to monitor their payments.

Fortunately, an online rent payment service can address many of the aforementioned problems and benefit landlords and tenants alike. However, even if a lot of tenants pay most of their bills online these days – like auto payments, cards and utilities – there are still some who hesitate to pay their biggest bill through the Internet. So, how can a landlord encourage tenants to do online rent payments?

Online Rental Payment Advantages

As earlier mentioned, receiving online rent payments takes out the middleman from the process: tenant to landlord to bank. Landlords no longer need to receive a check, file it to deposit later, go to the tenant’s record to mark the payment, sign checks to be deposited, fill out the bank deposit slip and go to the bank to deposit the money. All they have to do is get the payment in one click, then transfer the amount into your bank account with another click. Landlords can set up automatic payments for their tenants, linking their bank accounts to that of their tenants. Rather than wait for them to mail the rent check or drop it off, it will automatically be withdrawn from the bank account of the tenant and deposited into that of the landlord.

Online banking can also save a lot of time and money for tenants. They no longer need to fill out a check, mail it or drop it off. They just need to fill out some spaces online and permit payment, which only takes a few seconds and saves on stamp costs. When a landlord allows credit card payments, tenants can get major rewards from their credit card payments.

How to Encourage Online Rental Payment

A landlord can do a number of things to encourage tenants to pay their rent online.

First of all, see to it that the transaction is free of charge. This is very important. No matter how small an online fee would cost, people would not like to pay it. Make sure to stress that online bill pay is trouble-free and that includes fees, regardless of their amount. So, remove them totally.

Accept credit card payments. You might think that tenants that pay via credit card are spending more than they can afford, but as mentioned earlier, most people pay their bills with credit cards to earn reward points. Allow your tenants to pay rent with their credit card since they know they can have a free vacation by doing it. You will have a smooth sailing income while they get good credit evaluation.

Give incentives for online bill pay. You can give a discount on the monthly rent or a gift card. When you offer rewards and prizes, tenants will be willing to join. This way, tenants will have the habit of paying rent online and will never go back to the traditional way of paying rent.

Perhaps one of the best advantages of online bill payments is eliminating the use of paper. Banks and service providers usually ask their customers whether they would rather receive billing statements and reminders via email. Nowadays, almost all bills that are mailed can also easily (and less costly) be sent electronically. With less mail and envelopes to open and refill, this means less bother for you, as well as less footprint in the landfills.  When these firms create fewer bills, more fuel and energy can be saved on printing, processing and transporting them. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that online bill payment is a versatile scheme when it comes to environmental benefits.

Paying your bills online enables you to manage your finances (as well as your counter) at the same time. When you are not an organized or technical person, paying your bills online may seem to be a bit intimidating. You feel that it is less stressful to get a paper billing statement in the mail, prepare a check then send it back. However, in reality, online bill payment is simpler. It may take some time to set up, but the moment it is through, you can be sure that there will be no late payment charges or lost things in the mail (or the huge pile of junk on your counter) ever.

There are a number of services that can let you consolidate bill payment. Thus, when you are tired of hopping from one site to another or getting your checkbook every month at different times when payment is due, you can opt for a third-party online billing service.

They collect (scan them in some cases) and email your bills via email, as well as post them to your account, then they automatically withdraw from the account you choose on the date you designate. You can view bill calendars and get alerts every due date. Other services allow you to pay anyone from your account (at times, with a credit card or check). There is no need to remember user names and passwords when paying every bill. There is nothing easier than that.

Certainly, most of these services come with a price (just a few dollars monthly and a minimal fee for every transaction), but to a lot of people, this is so small a price to pay for all the convenience you get.

It is difficult to stay organized and stay focused on your finances when paying your bills the traditional way. When you paid the monthly fee for your cable service, the bill often gets shredded, lost in a pile of paper or filed. If there are changes in the amount or unnecessary charges to your account, this may take months before you realize it. On the other hand, if you pay online, you will be able to view your records and know right away if something is wrong. When you pay through a third party bill payment service, you can instantly view everything in one location.  This is similar to hiring the services of a professional organizer without any cost.

Now that you’ve seen the advantages, it’s time to invest in an online rent payment service for your tenants – let them be able to pay rent with credit card.