Free Bill Pay

I have several different checking and savings accounts, but my main account has always been with Wells Fargo. After years of falling for their amateur financial trip-wires and getting plastered with fees, I wised up and started using their services to my advantage. They have a great Bill Pay service--the interface is easy to use and I've found it very helpful, but I'm paying $6.95/month, or $83.40/year for the service. I've said before that this is one of the few services I don't mind paying for, and that's still true. Despite the cost, it's been worth it--I got my bills in order using their Bill Pay, and I was (rightly) able to justify the cost because I was saving money by not having to buy postage or order checks (not to mention the not-infrequent late fees for unpaid bills, because I'm horrible about mailing payments).

However, while I don't mind paying $6.95/month, I also don't mind NOT paying $6.95/month.

I had a conversation with my company's credit union (we have a branch on-premises), and soon discovered all the wonderful advantages they offer. I've always had a savings account with the credit union--they're the only ATM in the building, and I avoid fees by having an account--but I found out they have free Bill Pay with their checking accounts, and their checking account has a 4% APY.

I'm pretty certain that beats any online savings account.

The requirements are minimal. I just needed to set up direct deposit and put $500 in my account every month, but seeing as I pay over $500 in bills, that's a given.

I spent about 45 minutes over lunch transferring all my account information from my Wells Fargo Bill Pay to my credit union's Bill Pay. The new interface? It's very good. The only flaw (for me) is that Wells Fargo always deducted mailed checks from my account immediately, and my new service does not. They wait for checks to be cashed. That will force me to keep a closer eye on what's going in and what's going out, but in all, I'm pretty happy with the service.

It will take me about a month to complete the changeover as I wait for accounts to realign, but it looks like I've just saved myself a few more bucks every month, and that, as we know, adds up!