Alternatives to Intuit's PayTrust service for online bill viewing and bill payment?

Question

I've been a long-time user of PayTrust. The idea behind the service is great: I can receive bills through PayTrust, view them online and set up payment rules to pay them automatically. However, Intuit (its parent company) has allowed the service to decay to the point where it has become simply unbearable: e-bill retrieval fails silently, paper bills are wrongly assigned (or not at all), the system fails to follow payment rules. I've had enough, and I'm cancelling my PayTrust account.

What are my alternatives?

So far, I see these options:

1. Billpay through my bank: It's free, but it doesn't receive bills for me. I would have to go to the payee's websites each month to find out how much I owe, or I would have to receive paper bills in the mail (something I definitely don't want). My bank does support e-bills; however, none of my payees are on their list.

2. Auto-pay through the payees: Many payees, especially credit card companies, offer a service to debit my checking account automatically each month. I don't feel comfortable with this option. I'm concerned that I lose leverage in the event of fraud or a merchant dispute. Since the payees already have my money (via a direct debit authorization), they're less inclined to resolve a billing dispute.

I'm looking for a way to pay bills automatically, but in a way that still allows me to intercede in the event of fraud. In essence, a service that tells me that I received a bill for $1,000 from my MasterCard on the 5th, and if I take no further action, it will be automatically paid from my checking account on the 20th -- just what PayTrust does today, but in a reliable way.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Ally bank has a free billpay service where you have the option of paying bills via eBills.

Though I use Ally's billPay service (and I write about my experience with Ally in my blog), I haven't used eBills, but from reading your question, looks like this is what you are looking for.

From Ally's site:

What are eBills? An eBill is an online version of a bill or statement that can replace a traditional paper copy. Many large companies, like your electric, phone, cable and major credit card companies have the ability to send you eBills.

To receive eBills at Ally, you must already receive your bill online at the biller's website. Ally will ask for the biller's website credentials to set up an eBill.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Paytrust seems to be the only game in town. We've changed banks several times over the last 15 years and I can tell you that using a bank's bill pay service locks you in, big time. I loved paytrust because I could make one change if we changed banks. If you're using a bank directly for your bills, the ides of recreating your payee list is daunting.