Life was a lot less complicated before technology took over our lives.
Don't get me wrong, I really do love technology, but, some of the things that are supposed to simplify our lives can make things a lot harder and a lot more stressful.
I have a checking account that I use to pay all of my normal monthly bills. For a long time I resisted using any sort of debit card. I just wrote checks and had cancelled checks sent to me along with every account statement. That gave me assurance that all was well and every check payment was cleared for the proper amount. Mistakes happen and I found a few tiny errors in payment over the years where a bank teller entered the wrong numbers by "fat fingering" something. A penny here or there was not worthy of pursuit and I let it slide, but I updated my records to reflect the actual amount paid due to their error. I was meticulous about it.
Then along came electronic fund transfers and payments. After a while, banks stopped sending cancelled checks. Now, they don't even send monthly statements, I have to go online and print them myself. See, I like balancing my checkbook the old fashioned way.
My wife is a freelance copywriter and marketing consultant. She runs into timing issues on occasion. She's waiting for payment when a bill comes due. On those oddball occasions, I've stepped up to the plate and let her use my debit card from the checking account to make a payment on time. That's where the trouble with this great technology begins.
For MONTHS afterward Netflix kept deducting payment from my checking account rather than my wife's account because they now have my debit card number on file.
On February 21st, Time Warner Cable deducted $52 and change from my account to cover my wife's internet service bill because she used my debit card in January for a one-time payment since she was awaiting a payment from a client that was dragging their feet (clerical issue on billing payments).
Today, if my wife does not deposit money into MY account first thing this morning (to make up for the Time Warner deduction that I did not discovery until about thirty minutes ago) a check I wrote yesterday afternoon will bounce.
I don't keep a lot of extra money in this account. I use it, as I said, just to pay the basic monthly expenses.
The thing that really annoys me here is the fact that all of those online payments take place without notification. I don't receive alerts on my phone. The less information that filters in and out of my devices, the more secure my bank accounts will remain. If I lost a phone that had access to bank accounts, think of the possible repercussions. No, I don't want that.
The dark side of online banking and bill payments is the fact that information is often retained and accounts are sometimes used over and over without your knowledge or approval. If you are not checking on bank account activity constantly, you could start bouncing checks and racking up some really nasty late fees and overdrawn penalties.
I don't like it. Life was a lot easier and far more secure before electronic bill payments and checks actually being sent from bank to bank for issued payments. Sure, things took longer, but, that was the reason things were more safe and secure.
In the blink of an eye, you can go from "life is good" to "OMG! What happened?"
Can I have things the way they used to be?
No?
That's too bad. Things were so simple in the good old days.
Carry on.
