@BrianSmith950
We can scrap the Paypal option. It’s shit.

The “by app” options are not really by software, but rather an underlying transfer mechanism. Americans login to their bank accounts to pay their bills, but that’s just a façade for how the money moves. The user often does not even know. Typically an outsourced #billpay service checks whether a payee such as a credit card is linked electronically, then the money moves electronically by ACH. If not, a check is printed and mailed & that’s entirely invisible to the payer. The free bill pay service covers the cost of the stamp. Of course there’s a bit of dodgyness there because how does the billpay service pay their bills if they’re free to you and your bank? They must be snooping & selling your data to data brokers. So sending a paper check yourself manually is the only counter to that.

The UK has the GDPR, so perhaps you have some protection against those shenanigans.
@simon @adam

I avoid #billpay services as they are always outsourced. So some centralized corporation gets to see everyone’s #bank details and payment details. There are like 6000+ banks & CUs in the US and (I think) only a few companies doing the bill pay service which means a lot of sensitive info is seen & kept in one place where the #checks are printed.

To worsen matters, #Cloudflare is getting a view on most transactions with CUs. So it makes more sense than most normies realize to print your own #cheques.

I'm sure this will go as badly for him as it does for regular folks, the poor, and PoC when they stop paying their bills. /s #ElonMusk #FinancialSolvency #BalancingYourCheckbook #BillPay #MathIsHard #BusinessManagement https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20221214529/elon-musk-has-reportedly-stopped-paying-rent-on-twitter-offices-and-told-staff-not-to-pay-vendors

I'm sure this will go as badly for him as it does for regular folks, the poors and PoC when they stop paying their bills. /s #ElonMusk #FinancialSolvency #BalancingYourCheckbook #BillPay #MathIsHard #BusinessManagement https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20221214529/elon-musk-has-reportedly-stopped-paying-rent-on-twitter-offices-and-told-staff-not-to-pay-vendors

I used to use the gratis billpay service that #banks/CUs offer. Did that on the basis that I feel I have more control if I push a payment than if the receiving side pulls the money out. But then how do I justify letting yet another outsourced 3rd party collect financial data? Surely that’s why #billpay service is gratis- they must be monatizing the data.

#Billpay services are free in the US, yet no one questions how bill pay services profit. Is the bank paying the bill pay service on our behalf? If not, then surely there's a #privacy issue. I find not a single article on this.