I also NEVER have utility bills, etc. auto-debited. These people get checks as antiquated as checks are.
We are like you we never have any bills auto debited. Utilities get checks.
I love payiing by check and I really do not like the auto pay thing. When I pay by check I have some control over when the payment is made at least I feel like I do.
I use B of A's online bill-paying application. It's easier and more secure than writing a check. With a check, the payee gets to see your account number. Not so with bill-pay.
Once I got a bill-pay check returned to me by a payee (along with a note that the amount should now be paid to a different payee). The returned check not only had a different account number on it, it was not even drawn on B of A! Rather, it was on JPMorgan Chase! All it had was my name and address, my memo notation (Rent for January
), and an 800 number for the Online Bill Payment Processing Center in Columbus, Ohio.
(BTW getting the returned check credited was simple. I just sent a note to B of A's customer service identifying the check and asking what to do with it. They said, just destroy it. We'll credit your account. And that was that.)
You can pay bills online without autopay. You save $5-10 a month in stamps that way.