Which method of paying bills makes you feel more secure, mailing away a cheque or paying online with a credit card?

I use one credit card for everything. Then I pay the monthly bill online. I have never had a moment’s problem.

I pay all of my bills online – I can’t imagine mailing a check anymore!

My dentist gives a 5% discount with a check. I find it really annoying,

Credit Card. But if you have to send a cheque, I think sending it by courier would be safest.

I don’t think of either of them as being more “secure”. I simply know paying online with a CC to be significantly more convenient and quicker.

I prefer paying online.

I pay all of my bills by check. Most are done over the phone using an automated system, the others are sent in the mail. We only use a credit card for emergencies.

We mainly pay by phone or check, because it helps us keep track of our money better. I prefer paying bills online, but my husband takes care of the bills so it’s his choice.

I pay everything online, simply for the convenience. I think basically you’re just as likely to have your identity stolen in person as you are anonymously online. In fact, the only times I’ve ever had unexpected charges were when I went to Chicago and used my card in a number of places…all of a sudden I have a $600 credit card charge from a grocery store and $400 in airline tickets on that card all from Chicago, and I’m pretty sure it was one of those deals where the clerk had one of those devices where they swipe your card, make a copy of the electronic info and then use it. Whenever I’ve had a bank send me a letter that tens of thousands of credit card records were stolen from their servers, I’ve NEVER had a problem. I tend to think there are a lot of ways to get your data, and even if you only make cc card purchases in person and use checks for everything else, well your check info is probalby the least secure of anything when you get right down to it. I mean, a check has your account # and your routing # on it. All you have to do is take those two numbers and have checks printed in whatever name you want on the checks. If someone runs the check through a mercantile scanner, it will just confirm there’s money in the account tied to that routing and account #. Bottom line is nothing is secure. Your best bet is to keep regular tabs on all your bank and credit card accounts and shut it down if there’s ever any suspicious activity. And the other thing I consider is that by law, credit card companies can only hold you liable for $50 of unauthorized purchases, and I have YET to hear f any company actually making a person pay that $50. In a bank, where it’s your money coming out, if someone takes it out, the bank doesn’t have to give it back to you. I feel far more secure charging everything and then paying the charges electronically via electronic bank transfer. I also get rewards that way.

Direct debit straight from the bank. In the UK this is often the cheapest way of paying bills and most companies will charge you extra if you pay by another method. Another advantage of this method is that its guaranteed by the banks so any mistakes are rectified quickly.

I use my bank’s online bill pay, which I love. I pay some things (like internet) using my CC, but most bills are paid online.
I rarely pay via check anymore.

I pay almost everything via my bank’s online banking. As the electronic payments do not have my account information, I far prefer that to mailing a check. The thing I haven’t done is switched to e-billing because I need the visual reminder of a paper bill. My memory leaves a bit to be desired.

Is it generational? Possibly. I got my mother-in-law to try online banking and she now loves it. I doubt that my mom would have ever done it, but my father would have. I think it’s more about knowledge of and comfort with the technology than it is age.

@gailcalled – You may know this already, but your dentist is trying to avoid his credit card payment processing fee by offering a discount for a check or cash. However, I would think that a dentist or doctor would be happy to get paid in any manner possible. (Can you tell I’ve done some dental office receivables?)

I agree with @Lightlyseared if I can pay by direct debit then I will. Otherwise it would be online with a credit card.

Online, through bill pay or automated debit. The only time I write checks, anymore, is during school time for the book orders my son enjoys. They only accept checks.

It could well be generational. I still pay everything possible by check (or cash, in direct purchases) and use credit cards only for things that can’t be paid any other way, such as for online services. I want nothing to do with EFT and dislike it when my check is simply scanned for funds transfer. I don’t care to authorize anyone to dip directly into my bank accounts routinely. I control what goes in and out through the process of deposits and withdrawals by check.

I had the bank stop sending me checkbooks years ago because I was never using them. Writing checks would feel like using candles for lighting or going to the well for water. We get everything through automatic bank payment and when it’s not an option, cc.

Direct Debit or Standing Order, then I don’t even have to think about it. Online with a debit/credit card is fine too. I don’t think I even own a cheque book any more.

Online directly out of my checking account. It’s secure through my bank, and they protect members from any mistakes.

On further thought, I don’t think it’s so much generational with me as it is the experience of having been very, very, very broke for a while (months) and on an extremely short budget for a much longer while (years).

When things are as tight as that, you have to juggle payments, you have to pay token sums, you have to drag a little on this bill one month and that bill another month, just to get by. If I had not been able to control when every penny went out and to whom, I would have been sunk. Absolutely. It was the $10 installment to Sears and the three days late with the phone bill and the skipping a payment to the dentist now and then that let me keep it all going. If anyone had been able to make a preemptive strike on my account for the full sum owed, we never would have made it. There’d have been nothing for groceries.

We worked hard and paid off everything and have lived debt-free for years now. I never want to go back, but I haven’t forgotten, and in my mind there is always a little shadow of fear that if we ever did get in trouble again, I wouldn’t want control of my finances to be out of my hands.

I use my bank’s online bill paying, which is like writing a check. The bank writes the check and sends it. I’ve never had any problems.

I haven’t used paper checks in over a decade and have grown very comfortable paying bills by phone with my debit card or online. So far there hasn’t been any instance of online fraud or account hacking.

I do pay my bills the same way with @PandoraBoxx. I use my bank’s online bill payment option. Otherwise, if I happen to be near the office, I pay with my check. I use my credit card for shopping and other bigger purchases.