Bills.  Bills.  Bills.  No matter how much we try to avoid them, they will always be a part of our lives.  Month after month, I watch my boyfriend sort the invoices while carefully paying each one through his internet bank.  Although internet banking has helped a lot in making payments easier and quicker, the paper bills are quite annoying especially at times when you misplace one, two or more of them.  I’ve seen my boyfriend panic whenever he remembers days later that he forgets to pay something.  Getting additional fees for delayed payments --- not that great.

With the advancements in technology, aside from regular banking to e-banking the billing system has also dramatically improved over the years.  Electronic billing system [e-billing or e-invoicing] is now preferred by a  lot of business owners, rapidly replacing the old fashioned not-so-environmental friendly paper bills which is a definite plus.

Going green plus reduced expenses – decreased paper consumption and stamp-free billing make a lot of sense both environmentally and economically. 

Convenience and better organization – definitely hassle free!  You do not need to check your traditional mailbox everyday.  No more opening envelopes and sorting paper bills or worse, end up misplacing them.  All you need to do is check your email or internet bank like you regularly do, sort and organize your e-bills and  go through the billing statements [sometimes attached with PDF files].  If everything looks good, you simply select which e-invoices you want to pay, assign dates of payments, enter a few e-banking codes then click the process, continue or pay button and you’re done.  It’s quick, easy and stress free!

For example, the company where I signed up for a monthly subscription of the Cosmopolitan fashion and beauty magazine has this system using a recurring billing software in which I can opt to whether pay my yearly subscription plan on a monthly or bimonthly basis.  For this plan, the amount is constant along with the time period but there are also instances when the amount is fixed while the time period varies, vice versa or in some cases both are irregular.  The choice is yours.  Whatever the case is, it’s a win-win situation for us consumers.

Faster and accurate payments – with e-bills, you no longer have to enter invoice numbers and amounts manually.  Transactions are done in a few clicks of the mouse.

Confidentiality, Flexibility and Security – choose to pay the bill now or opt for a later date but making sure that you don’t go beyond the deadline to avoid late charges.  Due to paperless bills, you no longer have to worry about your personal information landing on the wrong hands because of unsafe mailboxes or wrong address delivery.  And since it’s only you who have the access details to your internet banking [I suppose], you receive, sort and pay your bills securely.