morning lineup firegeezer on 30 Apr 2008 07:18 am
Morning Lineup - April 30
Wow…..here it is the end of the month already. That was a quick one. But personally, I’m ready for some good May weather for a change.
If you’ve still got some of those end-of-the-month bills to pay, then you’d better get crackin’. Can’t put it off any longer. One of the best things the computer age has brought us is this direct-payment scheme that most utilities and other services have now. When the electric company sends you a bill, they automatically collect the payment from your checking account. That sure takes a lot of the last-minute grief and pressure away, not to mention the late payment fees.
That program wouldn’t have worked 30 years ago. Back then nobody who worked for a fire department had enough money in their checking account to let someone else dip into it like that. And I simply love the direct deposit feature. No waiting for the broken post office to get around to delivering the pay check three days late. It’s just zapped directly into the account.
One thing that I will not do however, is the online banking bit. I just don’t like having my account vulnerable to hackers and the glitches that seem to keep popping up. I’m doing just fine the way it is. With the direct deposit and the ATM machine for the occasional cash withdrawal, I literally never need to physically go to the bank anymore.
Ah, the ATM machine. That is really neat, now. You just punch a couple of buttons and then stand there facing the wall for a few moments. Then somebody shoves some money through the slot to you and you’re on your way. My credit union doesn’t charge a fee for ATM withdrawals and one of our local gas station chains has no-fee machines, so it’s all free. I love it.
We’d better get this equipment checked out now. I’ll go start the coffee. How much will the cost of living raise be this year?
on 30 Apr 2008 at 11:57 am 1.rockhound said …
The ATM machines you use are as vulnerable if not more so than your home computer to hackers. ATM’s and store cash registers use the same internet to conduct their business as you do at home. Public ATM’s can be fitted with small hard to notice card scanners that read your info and transmit it to a nearby computer. ATM’s can be purchased by anyone (except official bank ATM’s)and installed in public places such as convenience stores and gas stations, the owner having access to all transaction data. So in all internet banking is no better or worse than any other use of your credit/debit card.If you do decide to do it make sure your bank has a secure website, it will be https:// instead of http:// the ’s’ designates it as a secure site.