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In recent years, a number of different companies have decided to allow their customers to pay their bills using means other than the traditional mailing in a check.  Many companies will now allow a person to pay their bill online through their website or over the telephone with a customer service representative to ensure that their bill is paid on time.  What many people do not know is that paying your bill by using one of these methods can cost you more money than you may think.

Some of the companies that will allow you to pay your bill by using other methods will charge you an additional fee for using the service.  Often billed as a convenience fee, these companies charge you for the convenience of paying your bill by any method other than mailing in a check to their accounting department.  Although paying your bill online means less work for the employees in the accounts receivable department, these companies have decided that charging people a fee for using this service is a good way to extract more money from the gullible and those that do not read terms and conditions before they make a decision.

The Fee And How To Avoid It

The fees charged by these companies will vary from company to company.  The average cost of paying your bill by a method other than regular mail is generally $5 or $10 dollars per occurrence, meaning that if you pay your monthly bill online for an entire year, it will cost you an additional $60 to $120 in fees.  Some companies will only charge for payments that are made over the phone while some other companies will only charge for payments that are made online.

To avoid these ridiculous fees, it is important to always read the terms and conditions for an account.  If a fee is charged for the actions of an account holder, it must be disclosed to the account holder in some way so that they are aware of the fee and why it is being charged.  Sometimes the fee will be disclosed when the person attempts to submit the payment information online or at the end of the conversation with the customer service representative.  If there is still enough time to get the payment to the company by mail on time, do not be afraid to hang up the phone or log out of the website and make the payment by mail to avoid the fee.