For every bill I have from phone to internet to all utilities to every credit card, insurance, etc etc etc... That I can name, there is an auto payment option.
The only thing I can think of that still requires a check is paying rent. But for that, and anything else that would require payment by checks, billpay (which is free with every bank I know of or have used) takes care of this.
All of these pretty much can already be automated. All that said, legitimate question, but is there a scenario here that I am overlooking where this would be covered by your service that I can't automate bill payments without writing a check already. Or more accurately, what's different between this and billpay most banks offer (aside from the interface).
EDIT: I suppose the auto address update is a nice feature that most people might have a use for
But what I would (personally) love is a place to manage all of my bill payments in one place -- instead of having to log in separately to bank/credit card/internet/cell phone/etc sites to view amounts and then pay all separately. (Sometimes they can be configured to autopay, sometimes they can't...)
Every time my CC number gets compromised and I have to change the billing info on 8+ sites... ugh what a pain. And then on CC sites where they don't allow autopay (or only allow it in a fixed dollar amount, WTF), and I miss the e-mail saying my new statement has arrived, and get a late fee... ugh again.
Cloudbill does provide what you're looking for. You have outlined the core problem with current billpay...the time it takes and the hassle you have to go through. Cloudbill can alert users via txt, email and within the app itself to help insure you don't forget a Nik.
It sounds like you're saying you can change credit card information which I'm unsure how but it sounds like you can update your address, passwords, and everything else it seems like. How are you guys able to do this as I believe backend systems like Yoodle doesn't allow this right?
Currently does the system support all kinds of banks and bill payments already?
While what you're saying is true, what happens when you pay bills from multiple accounts like most people do? You have to register all of those bills with all of your different bank accounts. The same issue arises when you want to change banks...reregistering all of your bills.
What also sets this apart from bank bill pay is the ability to pay with any credit card and be given suggestions on how to pay each bill to take full advantage of any discounts or earn the best rewards.
Grey charges (questionable charges) on credit cards as well as bills from places like phone carriers and cable companies have become a huge problem for the average consumer and Cloudbills automatic alerts to grey charges along with the ability to remotely dispute the charge, offers value.
Aside from the auto address update feature we think there are some other really useful things we're offering
First of all losing your wallet is a huge pain and if you use each provider's auto pay feature its even more of a pain, losing your wallet when you use Cloudbill means updating your card number just once.
Helping our users maximize their rewards points is also something we've heard a lot about lately and a feature we're really excited about!
Aside from that helping our users find fraudulent charges on their bills is also something we think is worth being excited about :)
We actually hope you'll forget about Mint after using Cloudbill ... we'd love for you to never have to login to any bank or bill provider again either. Sign up and shoot me an email at zach [at] cloudbill dot com and I'd love to chat with you about what you like about Mint and make sure we're hitting all your pain points with Cloudbill. I have a feeling we are :)
I mostly just use Mint for aggregation between accounts, budgeting, and trend monitoring. We pay our bills via paper. I don't like logging into each bill's bill pay website. Paper seems easier because it reminds you right there, where as a bill pay website you have to actively go to. If banks provided an ability to aggregate between accounts like Mint, and integrated bill pay (like yours) into a single site, that would be pretty close to ideal for me.
How much will the service cost? Presumably they'd have to charge money for it, since the alternative business model would be something unspeakably horrible, like selling users' personal financial information. And it would be nice to see a privacy policy before providing your e-mail to get an invitation.
We plan to charge a users in a variety of ways. it will be a freemium service so some users who have a minimal number of accounts or bills will never pay anything, but we'll have tiers depending on what the user wants, for instance the move me service for setting up your utilities, cable, etc could be an a la carte charge.
We think the average user (3 bank accounts about 12 bills per month) will probably pay about $5 per month for the service and with the grey charge removal alone we're confident we can save you that fee :)
There is also quite a bit of interest for the biller to pay us since it will ensure their users pay their bills on time and from the studies we've seen so far having this as an option even improves users' opinions of their bill providers.
So never fear there are definitely ways of making money outside of shady practices or selling your financial info(which we will NEVER do under any circumstance)
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[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 45.8 ms ] threadThe only thing I can think of that still requires a check is paying rent. But for that, and anything else that would require payment by checks, billpay (which is free with every bank I know of or have used) takes care of this.
All of these pretty much can already be automated. All that said, legitimate question, but is there a scenario here that I am overlooking where this would be covered by your service that I can't automate bill payments without writing a check already. Or more accurately, what's different between this and billpay most banks offer (aside from the interface).
EDIT: I suppose the auto address update is a nice feature that most people might have a use for
But what I would (personally) love is a place to manage all of my bill payments in one place -- instead of having to log in separately to bank/credit card/internet/cell phone/etc sites to view amounts and then pay all separately. (Sometimes they can be configured to autopay, sometimes they can't...)
Every time my CC number gets compromised and I have to change the billing info on 8+ sites... ugh what a pain. And then on CC sites where they don't allow autopay (or only allow it in a fixed dollar amount, WTF), and I miss the e-mail saying my new statement has arrived, and get a late fee... ugh again.
It sounds like you're saying you can change credit card information which I'm unsure how but it sounds like you can update your address, passwords, and everything else it seems like. How are you guys able to do this as I believe backend systems like Yoodle doesn't allow this right?
Currently does the system support all kinds of banks and bill payments already?
What also sets this apart from bank bill pay is the ability to pay with any credit card and be given suggestions on how to pay each bill to take full advantage of any discounts or earn the best rewards.
Grey charges (questionable charges) on credit cards as well as bills from places like phone carriers and cable companies have become a huge problem for the average consumer and Cloudbills automatic alerts to grey charges along with the ability to remotely dispute the charge, offers value.
First of all losing your wallet is a huge pain and if you use each provider's auto pay feature its even more of a pain, losing your wallet when you use Cloudbill means updating your card number just once.
Helping our users maximize their rewards points is also something we've heard a lot about lately and a feature we're really excited about!
Aside from that helping our users find fraudulent charges on their bills is also something we think is worth being excited about :)
We plan to charge a users in a variety of ways. it will be a freemium service so some users who have a minimal number of accounts or bills will never pay anything, but we'll have tiers depending on what the user wants, for instance the move me service for setting up your utilities, cable, etc could be an a la carte charge.
We think the average user (3 bank accounts about 12 bills per month) will probably pay about $5 per month for the service and with the grey charge removal alone we're confident we can save you that fee :)
There is also quite a bit of interest for the biller to pay us since it will ensure their users pay their bills on time and from the studies we've seen so far having this as an option even improves users' opinions of their bill providers.
So never fear there are definitely ways of making money outside of shady practices or selling your financial info(which we will NEVER do under any circumstance)
Hope that helps :)