Using eBillMe Wasn’t Too Tricky- But It Can Improve

December 10, 2008 · Comments

ebillme transaction You might remember that this month’s sponsor is eBillMe. I wrote a post about their cash payment method a week or so ago. Today, I had a chance to use the service, and I found it really interesting. I thought I’d walk you through my experience, and then, give you an idea of why it’s cool, but also why eBillMe has some room to improve.

First, I went to their list of companies and decided to try Buy.com. I wanted to buy a Jawbone BlueTooth headset, and I found them there. However, it turns out that Buy.com has a kind of blended selling area, where some of the items are from 3rd party merchants. The eBillMe service couldn’t pay on those types of merchants.

To me, from the outside, I was a bit confused, but I’ve seen the same experience at Amazon.com, where the 3rd party stuff sold there doesn’t have the same rules as the “official” stuff, so I fault Buy.com not eBillme.

No worries, I went to TigerDirect.com and found the same product. I added it to the shopping cart, and I went to select payment. I clicked eBillMe, and then it walked me through the next steps. Here’s what you do:

  • Fill out the account info for TigerDirect.
  • Get the form from eBillMe on the TigerDirect site.
  • Go to my own bank.
  • Select Add Payee in the online billing area.
  • Copy the info from the TigerDirect form into the right spots on my bank.
  • Select Make a Payment.
  • Complete the transaction.

What I really love about eBillMe is that I’ve used it to shield my payment information from TigerDirect, and I’ve used it to shield my purchase information from my bank. It’s safe, and it lets me pay cash instead of credit. (Remember, that’s the main point of eBillMe. This is a way to pay cash safely and get out of the credit grind.)

What needs work is the process overall. It’s complex, has lots of steps, and just isn’t very smooth. I realize that this is a one-time setup. The next time I go buy something at TigerDirect, I’m all set. I presume that the same info carries through if I buy at Buy.com. But even then, the process just isn’t as smooth.

I’m not sure how one would improve it, though. I can complain, but I don’t really have the next move. I think it’s a matter of threading a bunch of financial data needles that just aren’t as easy as implementing something like OpenID.

So, that all said, I still endorse eBillMe, and I’m going to use it more now that I have my account set up. I hope more merchants jump on board, because it’s neat paying cash instead of using a debit card or paying credit.

Have you tried it? Go to eBillMe to see what’s interesting.

This post wasn’t sponsored, but it relates to a sponsored post.

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  • mooooo
    I have used ebillme a couple days ago. In the second day of the payment from my bank, the customer service of ebillme called me and started asking my old address(I have just moved to new place, but I've already noticed my bank), my husband's name(bank was "joint account"), and last 4 digits of my social security #!? Of course I denied to give the ss#, then they said that they'll try to verify the purchase with my bank without my ss#...... My bank statement already shows that money were paid to ebillme. Why do they need all those further personal info?? - I felt very fishy about them.
    Also, I have received "welcome to ebillme" e-mail, but never received "thank you for your payment...confirmation message, still 2 dyas after my bank withdraw the amount.
    I hope my order and products get to me safely and quickly. Now I feel that I should have used PayPal.
  • Thanks Chris

    You are correct, once you set up, you can use it anywhere, you just checkout and pay the bill.
  • at first,i was not that excited about this but i checked out their site .. i have not bought anything yet..i like that i dont have to give the merchant my credit card info.. i personally dont mind giving out my card to some merchants.. but i dont like giving it to merchants i have not bought from in the past or dont know much about.

    they talk about guaranteeing best price and seem to have a return policy.. so that is cool.. at least they have dispute resolution and protection similar to credit cards.. I agree, it is more work to setup ebillme initially as a biller.. but it not that bad.. it took me more time to setup my paypal account anyway..

    it seems like that i can get the same protection that i get with credit cards, but i dont give the merchant my card info..so why not use it.. the only downside is that it is not yet available at some of the stores that i buy from.. thanks for posting this
  • Kelly
    One of the "tips and tricks" I Iearned, after using eBillme several times, is to be VERY consistent with the email address you are using on merchant sites, when you are going to check out using eBillme. The eBill that gets generated, and corresponding account number, provided by eBillme is unique, based on the email address. If you end up using multiple email addresses, you will end up getting multiple eBillme account numbers, which could result in eBillme's customer service team getting involved.
  • I work at a bank and i find eBillme to be a really smart application built on top of bill pay. I can see this being very popular. there are millions of people that use bill pay and this is a nice way for them to buy stuff on the web. With all the issues in the credit market right now, this is a good payment tool for shoppers.
  • Mary Ann
    @Joey or anyone else that would like to respond

    Once I do a transaction with ebillme, does the merchant record show up on my banking statement. For xample if i buy at Tiger does it show that i made a $100 payment to Tiger on my banking statement.
  • @Mary Ann

    When make a transaction with eBillme, on your statement it will show as eBIllme. If you purchase say from Buy.com, and Tigerdirect.com then both transactions will show up as eBillme transactions.

    In addition to having no finacial information shared with eBillme or the merchant, if someone takes a peek at your statement, they will not know what you bought or from where, its almost like stealth shopping.

    Samer
  • I’m writing from turkey. I like your writings.
  • Great site - I like the fact you can pay without providing credit information, but how is this that much different that PayPal? With PayPal, it takes it from my checking account, and I don't provide any credit card information to the retailer - isn't that the same?
  • @Les
    With eBillme you don't give anyone, your finacial information, you keep your personal finacial information to yourself, and you don't give anyone authority to access and draw on your account. You are in charge of your payments.

    With eBillme you also get premium coverage often associated with platinum credit cards, for example among other things, eBillme provides price protection which grantees that if you buy something and the price drops within 90 days eBillme will pay you the difference.

    So with eBillme you get the best security and privacy, and benefits of a premium credit cards with a cash like payment
  • joebobb
    I found ebillme easy to use as far as paying for an internet purchase but the only reason I used them was for an offered $25 rebate. 10 weeks later and no check. I copied all the doc I sent them and called with the info. Of course they stated they had never recvd. my mailed in rebate but would be happy to file for my rebate over the phone, starting the 6-8 week cycle all over again. I do not know why anyone would use this service other than to get a rebate and that remains to be seen if you get even that. 2 thumbs down...
  • mwpool
    Interesting article. I agree with you 100%. I too used ebillme for the first time and found some "stumbling blocks". However, after I got through all of them I am glad I used it. It is nice to see a site where Cash can be used. Dave Ramsey would be proud!!! I intent to use ebillme more in the future; Like you, I hope more merchants jump on-board.
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