Online Bill Pay vs. Paying via Postal Mail

As is evident in history, barter trade was the very first payment system adopted by man. As people became more progressive, they used items such as gold, minted coins and paper currency to ease the payment processes. Despite these steps, people still quest for better payment systems. As such, checks, money orders, and hard cash used for payments in the better part of the twentieth century seem to be outdated. Today, more people are convinced that the dream of a cashless society is worth pursuing (Garcia-Swartz, Harn &Layne-Farrar 175). Although the world is still to make the transition from paying in money orders, checks and cash, to using credit cards, debit cards and other forms of online payment, scholars and researchers have established that a cashless society would indeed benefit both buyers and sellers of products and services.

Before the arrival of online payment methods, the next best solution that people had was sending checks or money orders through postal mail. As (Crede) observes, these methods of payment were (and still are) time consuming and expensive for both parties involved in the transaction. A case in point is the time-consuming nature of drafting, and mailing a check or money order by the payer. The payee on the other hand has to collect the check or money order from the mail, cash it, enter the payment details into the information system, process data, and file the transaction details (Crede). Unlike payments by postal mail, online payments are fast and less costly. Better still; the benefits resulting from such a payment system are shared between the payer and the payee since the immediate transfer of online funds to the payees account means that the money can be accessed almost immediately. This not only ...

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