Paying bills online often offered for free

By Jefferson Graham
USA Today

If you're paying an online service to handle your bills electronically, you might want to think twice before you cut the next e-check.

Many banks are dropping their fees for making e-payments, and America Online just introduced a free service for its subscribers to both receive and pay bills, with the added bonus of e-mail notification when bills are due.

Market researcher Gartner estimates that 35 million people pay their bills online now, a number that will grow to 65 million by 2007.

"What consumers most like about bill pay is not having to buy stamps," says Avivah Litan, an analyst at Gartner. "Plus, the convenience. They like to pay in one place and have everything reconciled with their register."

AOL's new bill-pay program is free to members — who pay $23.95 monthly — and reaches 2,500 billers.