Online Bill Pay to Individuals

[srg83]

Came across an article in my RSS feed,
"Five Money Saving Bank Hacks" (http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/five-money-saving-bank-hacks.html)

One of the tips that piqued my interest was this one:


#3 Online Billpay
Yeah yeah, we all know about online bill pay. You set up your accounts and the utility company or the credit card withdraws the money, big deal right? While that can save you money, that’s often just part of what you can do with online bill pay nowadays. You can have the bank mail a check to someone on your behalf. Owe a friend $10 and you never remember to pay them? Just enter in the name and an address, the bank will mail off a check absolutely free of charge. You save yourself the headache of remembering, the embarrassment of constantly forgetting, and the cost of a stamp and check.


The part in bold was what interested me. I'm not sure whether the author of the article is in the US or Canada, but I'm not sure if that matters. My question is - is this possible to do or would the bank actually end up charging a fee?

Thanks in advance.

[bubble.tea]

I'm sure it'd be up to the individual bank.

You can pay people thru a myriad options online.

paypal
EMT to their email (assuming they bank with the top 5)
Bill pay to their CC directly if you know it.
JUST PLAIN REMEMBER TO PAY THEM LOLz.
Mail them a cheque YOURSELF :lol:...

[srg83]

Oh I know of the existing methods. I was just curious to know if this actually worked. I can think of a few situations where this would be better than the other options. Plus, it's free - e-mailing money, paypal, ordering cheques - that's not free.

[Milfman]

If most banks charge you for printing or writing cheques why would you think they wouldn't if they mailed a cheque on your behalf to someone?

[AllWheelDrift]

The part in bold was what interested me. I'm not sure whether the author of the article is in the US or Canada, but I'm not sure if that matters. My question is - is this possible to do or would the bank actually end up charging a fee?
Pretty sure the author is in the US. I've heard before that the US banking system is so archaic when it comes to making "online" payments that it's not uncommon for them to result in a cheque being mailed behind the scenes. I've never heard of being able to do the same in Canada though, especially not for free.

[jmc0]

Came across an article in my RSS feed,
"Five Money Saving Bank Hacks" (http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/five-money-saving-bank-hacks.html)

One of the tips that piqued my interest was this one:



The part in bold was what interested me. I'm not sure whether the author of the article is in the US or Canada, but I'm not sure if that matters. My question is - is this possible to do or would the bank actually end up charging a fee?

Thanks in advance.
I don't know about that it Canada.
go with bubble.tea's "Bill pay to their CC directly if you know it." (that should be free)

[jm1]

I know from personal experience that's available on a Bank of America business account, so other US banks might do it, but there was a crazy fee (I think $50 USD) and it took a few weeks for the cheque to arrive.

I would recommend Interac Email Transfer, as it works great and the person only needs to give you their email account and some password the two of you work out. Small service charge (50 cents? $1), though.