Ok ok,
I am one of those people who like to pay all my bills online. And as a result I tend to chalk up a monthly credit card debt, as you might expect from a bank. Paying the credit card bill is one of the most torturous tasks around. But it’s not entirely accidental. Banks inconvenience their customers for a reason.
For example, I would like the option of automatically debiting my checking account every month to pay off my credit card balance just before it is due. The system could easily send me a courtesy e-mail warning me the transfer was about to happen, in case I changed my mind. And if I didn’t have enough money in my checking account, it could warn me by e-mail and abort the transfer. This system would save me time and avoid late fees on my credit card.
You won’t be seeing that feature anytime soon. Banks and credit card companies make a lot of money from late fees. They have a naked interest in keeping their service as inconvenient as possible. My bank doesn’t even offer a check box option for paying the entire balance on my credit card. Instead I need to write down the balance from one screen, or try to memorize it, until the screen appears where I can enter that figure. In other words, they even make money from my typos. It’s totally intentional. Bastards. That trap has worked on me several times.
Cheers.
ps: You heard me right. I did say bastards.