At 09:23 AM 7/16/2009, t.piwowar wrote: >Why don't you stop using checks?
Because I need permanent paper records of investments. Computer data is just too volatile / fragile. Computer records are just backup, in case the paper records are destroyed. That's not impossible, but low risk. How does one download records of payment of stuff that is electronic bill pay? Does one have to download them one at a time by a manual (mouse click) request, or can one batch download them? The person doing the downloading and record keeping is a different person at a different location than the person making the payment. Most businesses I know still use checks to pay me. Unless it is something regular, like payroll, they are unwilling to set up an ACH transfer. The specific reason I'm asking is for a charitable organization that makes various "family emergency" payments on behalf of individuals to landlords, utilities, etc. Will landlords/utilities accept electronic payments when each payment is to a different account [number], or will a laborious setup process be required for each new payment? And if the "checkwriter" makes these payments from her home computer, what sort of process does the organization treasurer use to download the transactions, including the payee, and determine that the payment was made validly and not by a hacker? Seeing familiar handwriting and signature on a check image is pretty sure identification. (One doesn't hear much of forged checks these days). And when the landlord or utility (who are paid directly) say that they "never got the payment," but in reality they received it but misapplied it, is the evidence readily available that the payment actually was made and the payor properly identified the e! ntity being paid. An image of a cancelled check with an account number on it is pretty good proof. The numbers on the individual checks are useful to flag potential erroneous payments. How does one assign a "check number" to an electronic payment? We continually lose value in processes that are computerized. Yes, they are cheaper, but cheaper is not always better. The electronic payments generally are not completely documented on a bank statement (even the online ones). They only list the payee: Washington Gas. They don't list the explicit account number being paid. If there is an issue, much time-consuming research is required. And then, of course, there is all the information that is needed to be preserved for the annual audit, and for any forensic audit if someone should allege misappropriation of funds. Grantmakers, especially government entities, often want detailed reports showing how their money was spent. Is there any opportunity to run through a complete tutorial of electronic bill paying without signing up for it first? The tutorial should include all of the records produced by the process of paying a bill, and how to save / store them efficiently. And no, I don't want to authorize automatic payment; there are just too many opportunities for disastrous mistakes. >Software Glitch Leads To $23,148,855,308,184,500 Visa Charges > from the what's-the-grace-period-again dept. > posted by timothy on Wednesday July 15, @17:06 (Bug) > http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/07/15/2050215 Fred Holmes ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
