Annoyed. 09 Mar 06

Forgive my annoyance here, but how is this new? Last winter I scheduled auto bill pay through BofA to deliver my car payments on the day they are due. I used the “Deliver By” option clearly visible in the bill pay screen. That was Feb of 05, long before you posted about wanting this feature.

Do you really think BofA read your post and overhauled their entire bill pay feautre to suit your needs? Or do you think you just overlooked a feature they have offered all along?

ML 09 Mar 06

how is this new?

I’m guessing you used the “Send on” feature where you get to choose which day the money gets sent (BoA has indeed offered that for a while). “Deliver by” is different. You choose the date to get it there by and BoA does the math for you. Subtle but different. Fwiw, BoA announced the change with a banner about how “Bill Pay just got better” and now offers “simplified scheduling.” You can see that above. And no, I don’t really think the change came cuz of the original post but hey, anything’s possible.

gwg 09 Mar 06

While I don’t think it’s remotely possible that BofA did what they did as a result if the SvN post (impossible for BofA to move so quickly), this feature is in fact new to BofA online banking for bills that are paid to payees other than BofA.

I’ve used BofA online bill pay since the beginning; this is a new feature for external payees.

Annoyed, indeed. 09 Mar 06

I was thinking that Google could do a great job if they wrote a calendar to go along with Gmail. I talked to some friends about it. I can’t believe google took my advice and built a new calendar system. How great is that?

ML 09 Mar 06

Yeah, “ask and ye shall receive” was a bit tongue in cheek. I agree with gwg that BoA is unlikely to move that fast on implementing this change. But if you’re just dying to get your panties in a twist over something, go for it!

Dave C 09 Mar 06

I use WellsFargo which has had the Deliver By feature for some time (well over 6 months).

This is the most likely reason that BoA started offering it - basic competitive research.

It doesn’t undermine the fact that attention to detail can make a big difference in usability, which was the original SvN post.

Aaron 09 Mar 06

My bank has always stated a clear, “Pay on” date. They would reccommend that you select at least one day prior to the actual “due date” just to be safe.

Tom 09 Mar 06

I’d hazard a guess that this past Christmas they finally got their fill of complaints.

Many apartment buildings allow for a grace period of 5 days when paying your rent, which is convenient for using online bill pay - you can schedule your payment on the first of the month (the day after a lot of people get paid) and it’s got 5 penalty-free days to get to your landlord.

However, with the Christmas holiday, there were some vacation days in there (combined with more mail traffic) which made it take longer than usual for the checks to get where they needed to go. I, for one, got a late rent payment warning from my apartment complex for the month of January.

This feature would presumably prevent that, which is sweet.

Tumble 09 Mar 06

If we are asking banks to do things.. In the online banking system I use, I like to categorize my spending and then use their reports. However, there is no way to assign a POS to a category. So, I grocery shop most days on the way home (at the same store), and so I have 7 transactions each week I have to click and then place into my groceries category each week. I really wish that I could tell them to automatically assign a category based on my previous decisions. *grr*

gwg 09 Mar 06

ML Said:“But if you�re just dying to get your panties in a twist over something, go for it!”

I love this line.

Tom 09 Mar 06

I totally agree with you, Tumble. I have to imagine with this surge of web 2.0 apps someone is going to come up with a web-based Quicken app. As it is now, I use (and for the most part like) Quicken, but I can’t use it on my laptop because I run Linux. An online version that integrated (super-securely, like Quicken) with your bank could be huge, I think.

Adam James 09 Mar 06

I’m using BoA since the Fleet merger and I have two comments to make since I use the online website (what’s it called again..) extensively.

1) I don’t use Deliver By dates. I like to send bill payments out on the same day I get a paycheck, makes it a little easier to organize my checking account. Bearing that in mind..

2) Even with the old system, it was relatively easy to pick the proper send on date, it had a calender which would display in a non-popup window style which made it easy to choose the date and see when it would be received. The calender would stay up until you were done looking at it and there were no drop down forms to deal with. With the new system, now I’m the one (in theory) complaining. But, I am actually not, it’s not a huge deal for me really.

Gianni 09 Mar 06

Funny enough I had a big ordeal with this today. They changed the whole mechanism and expected everyone to understand the change. I preferred it the old way when it sent the payment and took the funds… Being a freelancer and trying to make it, my funds are in constant state of roll coaster finance. If I have the money today tomorrow might be a different subject.

I like the ability to see on my bill pay calendar when the payments where being sent out, so i could reschedule a payment if needed. Now I have to figure out all the send on dates, some are 2 days other are 4…

they should give their users the option to pick the display of either “send on” or “deliver by” dates… Because changing the functionality on someone after having used it for more than a year one way is not good for usability.

James 09 Mar 06

I’ve had this feature on WAMU.com for a long time. Seems more like BoA is just catching up with their competitors.

Tony 09 Mar 06

I noticed this too, and actually brought it up in the SvN Campfire room a few days ago but it didn’t become a topic of conversation. It’s a nice touch, and works just like you said it should!

Jonathan Sullivan 09 Mar 06

I much preferred the old system. I’ve been paying bills with BOA for many years now, and have always loved it. Simple, easy, fast, and no worries. Now I don’t even care for it anymore. I called BOA and complained and asked why not give the option for either, but the kid on the phone just said he’d report my call to his supervisor. I’m sure no one ever got my message. I personally think this is just another way for BOA to collect overdraft charges from their customers, as now you have no idea if the funds have left your account, as they don’t appear in pending transactions. I found it much easier to deal with when the funds left my account when I sent a payment, that way there wasn’t any chance I’d accidentally forget about some payment that hadn’t cleared yet, like the old fashioned check writing days. Bummer. Anyone know the address to write to and get your complaint noted? Any hope of the system reverting back or at least allowing the users to make a choice?

Su 09 Mar 06

A comment on that same post pointed this out on January 26.

Or is this another change?

Jonathan Sulllivan 10 Mar 06

Su, I’m pretty sure these changes did take place back in February, at least that’s what I remember getting the message regarding the updates.

Travis Anderson 10 Mar 06

You’d be surprised how many of us that work at BofA read this blog.

I personally didn’t work on the Bill Pay upgrade, but I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of the ones that did reads this blog.

Tim Laughlin 10 Mar 06

Whoa.. I read the first few comments in this post and the first thing that comes to mind..

Why are you discrediting BoA without any real knowledge of how they work?

Why can’t they move that fast.. of course they could if they tried..

Why wouldn’t you think big corporations could gain something from reading this blog.. of course they could..

Travis just said they read this blog.. so they might have gotten the idea from here.. or they might not have.. who knows.. and since you don’t know the details.. don’t doubt a possibility..

sxates 10 Mar 06

Or maybe they just got the idea from competitors like Quicken Bill Pay which has done this for, like, a decade…

Jonathan Sullivan 10 Mar 06

I think idea is fine, but a choice for users would have nice.

Tim Marman 10 Mar 06

Chase does the same thing.

Lars 11 Mar 06

It strikes me that what we really want is for transfers to be settled on the same day: money out, money in. Any incremental improvements in bill payments like the one from BoA is just a way for financial institutions to skirt the issue for a bit longer.

Dave 25 Mar 06

ALL OF YOU MUST READ THIS POST..

BoA has RUINED their system with this change. (see address below to send letters)

This is no “improvement.” More of a regression to the dark ages. The beauty of online banking was to log on and see your actual balance.

Now they’ve reverted — you have to log on, and then mentally balance your checkbook to account for all the funds soon to be debited when payments are received.

Some moron came up with this idea, and it’s INFURIATING. I would much rather pay a bill, and then have the balance immediately adjusted. Now it’s no different from sending a check the old fashioned way. I don’t give a rat’s a$@ if the bank keeps the funds “invisibly.” That’s how they make money for those extra few days of interest.

ADDRESS FOR COMPLAINT LETTERS (please send)
Bank of America
Executive Relations
100N Trion Street
Charlotte NC 28255

And call them and demand your overdraft charges be removed. They credited mine when I spoke to a supervisor.

Mike 11 Apr 06

I agree…. I am so glad to see others agree that this new system IS HORRIBLE!

Bills paid electronically go into a dark hole for a day.. they are not cleared out of my account and they are not listed in the overview page as to be paid.

The ones where a paper check is sent is the same as me doing it myself.. You have NO idea when the check is going to clear. I liked the money coming riht out of my account. Who wants the money in longer.. I mean it isn’t like there is interest on it.. I like to see things as they happen!

This is AWFUL. I see Washington mutual gives you a choice.. I may have to make a change….

Kevin 08 May 06

I’m on board with Dave and Mike, much preferred the “old” way of BofA’s bill pay. When I pay a bill, take the damn money out!
Several emails to customer service were answered by rote cut and paste, manager at the local branch suggested I use Quicken to balance my books. Nice.
Word to the wise, check the details of Wash mut and others (Wells Fargo) - some of their bill pay features cost $$ or are limited to a few a month / minimum balance required.