Be Intentional About Life

Paying Bill and Credit Cards Online

I know it's a big NO NO to give a credit card company (or any company you owe money to) access to your checking account. How does this apply to paying your bills using your checking account on the companies website.

Tags: Access, Account, Card, Checking, Credit, Online, Payment

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Permalink Reply by Archie Winningham on March 27, 2010 at 10:50pm

Chad, I would think legally (but beware of course the fact that CC Companies break the law all the time) they can only access the amount you give them permission to. I've used my debit card and didn't have any trouble. However, I would wait on a reply from JL and/or Derek just to be sure.

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Permalink Reply by Chad Berg on March 27, 2010 at 10:55pm

That's what I was thinking but I wasn't sure. I use Wells Fargo Bill Pay so I'm personally not to worried about it. I just want to know so I know how to answer any questions about it.

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Permalink Reply by Justin Lukasavige on March 30, 2010 at 7:10pm

Yes, when you enter your account info on a website it's generally safe. I say generally because it is the internet. I wouldn't worry about that and bill pay is completely safe. It's just as if you sent them a personal check.

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Permalink Reply by Chad Berg on March 30, 2010 at 7:15pm

That is what I thought. Thank You!

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Permalink Reply by Benjamin Corll on March 31, 2010 at 3:21pm

But always make sure the URL starts with HTTPS: (note, the "s")

And there should be a lock at the bottom right of your browser. This means you're using SSL (technically http over SSL) and it's secure. If you're using straight http (no, "s") then you are transferring information in clear text and anyone can read it!

Typically most banks don't have this issue as they are required by federal law to provide secure banking, but hey, never hurts to check and to protect yourself.

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Permalink Reply by Derek Sisterhen on April 13, 2010 at 12:16pm

Hey Chad - It sounds like you want to know if they can take the account info you enter into a web interface and then draft your account at will. You'd have to check the fine print of a user agreement, but 99.9% of companies would not do that. The way account information is received through web interfaces like this allows one-time processing of payments. The vast majority of companies will ask for your authorization in setting up recurring payments from one account.

A big exception to this is if you have a debt at the same bank/credit union where you doing your checking. In this case, the opposite of the above is true: nearly 99.9% of companies have language that allows them to draft an account at the same insitution of the debt they are collecting on if the debt is going past due. I've personally seen this happen to a few of my clients and when I worked in banking. Not pretty.