Automatic bill pay is a service that automatically deducts payments from your checking or credit account each billing cycle. It is a convenient way of keeping up with your payments without having to worry about sending them in on time. It has also become a means of protecting the environment by reducing the use of paper bills, checks and postage.
But the ease of automatic bill pay has its repercussions as well because it allows others to manage your finances. It is easy to lose track of how your money is being spent and incur unfair overcharges or overdraft fees on your checking account. This is an example of a “wicked problem” that faces not only the service designer but the user as well. The user must find a way to preserve the convenience of putting their payments on autopilot while still keeping tabs on their account each billing cycle.
Thinking iterative, it automatic bill pay has generated a new set of wickedness, what are possible solutions re-balancing convenience with awareness. What other ancillary 'automations' could be bundled with the check paying?
ReplyDeleteI think it would be a good idea to pair it with a mobile or email notification that would state the balance before the money is retrieved. The user would then simply need to reply to the message in order to allow for the retrieval.
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