Paying Bills with Your SmartPhone: Wealthy Wednesday Alerts
If you pay your bills with your SmartPhone, you need to read today’s Wealthy Wednesday blog post. Learn about the pitfalls to this time saver.
Most of us have been paying bills electronically – via automatic payments and web sites – for some time so why not make your payments from your iPhone? The biggest reason is your financial safety!
It seems Federal Laws protecting you from identity theft, fraud, abuse, misuse and errors haven’t caught up with the mobile age. No law specifically establishes consumer protection and liability rules for these mobile phone transactions.
When using a credit card, your bank is required to limit your risks to $50. When using a debit card, your risk limit jumps to $500. Some banks have implemented “zero liability” offerings as part of their marketing campaigns but Consumer Reports advises there are plenty of loopholes to get caught in.
I learned in researching this blog post that prepaid cards (mostly used by people with poor credit or by parents with teens) have almost no consumer protections!
When making mobile banking transactions, any of the above regulations may apply depending upon where the funds come from, where the funds go and basically how your bank interprets existing regulations.
“Consumers should not be expected to figure out what protections apply to each competing new payments venture,” said Consumer Union staff attorney Michelle Jun. “Regardless of the technology or business organization involved, the same high level of consumer protections should be guaranteed by law and contract for any payment service. Now that mobile payment ventures are emerging in the U.S., it’s time to harmonize and extend consumer protections for all payment services.”
Consumers: Beware When Using Mobile Banking
Until the laws catch up with technology, you must be proactive in protecting yourself when using mobile banking. In the end, it’s always the consumer who must make an informed decision. The links below provide you with more information on mobile banking pros and cons.
- The Defend Your Dollars organization offers excellent advice for consumers interested in using mobile banking services.
- You can also read more at Mobile Payment Systems Leave Consumers at Risk
