My bank uses Zelle but I had to use PayPal for concert tickets Zelle is easier and doesn’t require a separate account.

@rainmanjr It sounds like it's more hackable, though.

@Organist1 Not if you give PayPal your bank ID and PW. I didn’t. Nobody gets that info.

@anglophone

Sounds fishy.

@LiterateHiker It is actually one of several ways to transfer money to people over your phone. But like anything computer, subject to abuse and hacking. I do a lot of stuff online, but I have never used this type of service. I just don't trust the technology at this point.

@Barnie2years @LiterateHiker
Back in the 90s in Bellevue, WA we used AOL(it was that long ago) for some online billpay and we one day got a snail mail notice that our insurance was being cancelled for non payment.
Fortunately we knew our broker well (and he knew us) so after a phone call he got our coverage reinstated.

The problem turned out to be easy to prove. From our bank records, AOL was taking the money out of our account but not paying the insurance company.

It turns out our habit of maintaining relationships with our vendors and being forthright with them solved the problem almost before it started but it could have been a little ugly if we'd been unlucky.

Another (somewhat early) reason to avoid AOL.

@RichCC I pay most of my bills online, but not through the bank or third party. I pay most directly online to the company websites. There are a few that get taken directly from the bank (water and sewer), but I keep them at a minimum and keep emails showing that they are paid. I use the website's notification system to let me know if there is anything happening with the account as well. I think the security for most have improved, but I can't remember who said it, but "trust and verify" is the way to go.

@Barnie2years
It's not as unusual a practice now as it once was. We do a lot more of it these days. At the time we thought of it as a 'special' service (I can't remember if AOL pushed it that way or not) but apparently they weren't as professional about it as they could have been.

I worked almost all my career with Safety Critical systems where field failures are not allowed. It was a bit of a shock to me that their company let it happen (I was younger and more naive, I guess). I have to admit it's amazing how many horror stories still happen anyway.

I heard a story once about a company that tried to make a jet engine into a boat motor. A boat soon exploded and killed a family.
The lawyers who told the story at the seminar blamed the QA guy who predicted the event. By writing down his prediction he created something to be subpoenaed and opened his company up to litigation. Sometimes I hate our money driven world.