[harry10]

For me it completely depends.
Like for electricity and Gas I pay via credit card. For mobiles and others I use Paytm or Amazon Pay depending on what cashback i can get. I never pay directly from bank account as I am not comfortable doing that. Using Amazon Pay is beneficial for cash backs and for accruing reward points in Icici Amazon card.

I make it a point to pay every bill before the due date. I hate late fees or any interest amounts due to late payments on my account.

[WhiteSierra]

I generally pay all my utility bills (Electricity, LPG, Water bills, Property tax bills, Internet - ACT fiber, Airtel DTH and BSNL landline and FastTag recharges) and cars' fuel bills through UPI Apps such as Amazon Pay, Google Pay, Paytm, Freecharge and PhonePe. I got generous amounts of cashback too. I take care of all the bills including postpaid phone bills of my parents, mobile recharges of my siblings, etc . I also use my UPI apps to pay at nearby grocery stores, super markets and domestic flight tickets booking for convenience. I've been doing this from 2017 or 18, not just now during covid.

I honestly don't remember when was the last time I have seen a bigger currency note (2000 rupees). I used to use 500 rupee notes to pay to my Maid, Gardner and Car cleaner. Due to covid, they were the ones who asked me to send money directly to their google pay numbers

I don't use my salary account for all these transactions as I have a fear of getting hacked. I use these UPIs and cards almost everywhere and I'm giving my data to 1000's of vendors and third party applications, all these data is used in data mining and would end up somewhere in a big data dump. I'm not comfortable with it and I'm paranoid about my security and identity.

I simply did not want to risk my main account. I have two separate bank accounts which I opened during my college days. I add money from my main salary account to these secondary accounts and use them to pay all my utility bills, etc.

Here are few screenshots of Cashback I received over last couple of years.

I couldn't access Freecharge cashback list, but I received more than 2k worth cashback from the last 3 years. Also SBI rewards app doesn't allow to take screenshots, so I'm not including it.

Amazon cashbacks :



PayTM cashbacks:



PhonePe cashbacks:



Google Pay linked to 1st bank account



Google pay linked to 2nd bank account



P.S: These are wallet cashbacks. Sometimes, they also give direct cashbacks to bank account via UPI or card like FasTag and Fuel cashback.

It's not just for the rewards, but it is very convenient to pay utility bills through these apps, all you have to do is insert the UPI pin as the apps themselves pull out the billing information and amount before the due date.

[paragsachania]

Prefer paying via service provider's own website (more precisely their apps) for all my bills.

Airtel Thanks, ACT, BESCOM Mithra to name a few.

Once I am on the payment screen, I typically use UPI mode to make the payment. Most of them now have UPI option available along with the rest. I don't recollect when I last used NEFT or IMPS or Netbanking or even via Card number.

I paid my electricity bill via Paytm once and had a tough time to get that reflected in BESCOM's system and explain it to the folks.

With native apps from the service provider themselves, there are just 2 parties to blame : Myself or the service provider (payment gateway to some extent).

Would have preferred direct debit but at times you may have the stop that when you shift places and the provider details change or you switch service providers.

[Funny]

I am using Amazon Pay for most of my bill payments including Prepaid/DTH Recharges, Broadband Bill, Electricity Bill, UPI Payments and all other transactions that allow payment using APay Balance or APay UPI. Amazon has been giving cashback for most of my transactions and it's very convenient to use as well. I also use Google Pay once in a while and it used to give cashback long back but now its a rare occurrence. I also use BHIM but mostly to transfer funds within my own accounts

This includes earnings from Amazon Pay ICICI card also I believe..

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

On a related note, I was pulled over by the cops yesterday. I pointed out I was inside the car with my wife, showed him the masks and pointed out we will wear them even before opening the door. Nothing doing. Fined 500 (with proper receipt)

OT: I do not understand why do we have to wear mask inside our car? It's like asking to wear mask inside your own house. I agree that we must wear the mask when we step out of the car but inside the car I'm not comfortable wearing a mask since I drive with AC all the time and it feels suffocating with the mask on.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by bharatbits

I am quite fed up with paying all these cooking gas bills, internet bills, electricity bills, milk bills, telephone bills every month that i just started ignoring them and began paying once every 6 months once the bill adds upto a sizable amount. Ofcourse there's a late fee but that's a small amount to pay for the convenience i feel. I am not going to runaway without paying the bills either.

I wouldn't rule out this negatively affecting your credit score in the future. Don't do this. Set up an auto-debit - technology is there & available. Just automate it.

Worst case, make an advance payment for 6 months instead of late payment. For one of my less important billers which had a very small amount, I used to just pay for the entire year in advance, so I wouldn't be bothered with a tiny payment every month.

[sharktale]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

I use Amazon's app to pay my utility bills - landline (for fiber internet), postpaid mobile connection and electricity bill. Convenient, fetches the monthly bill itself and I get cashback and other offers since I pay by Amazon's ICICI credit card.

+1. Amazon has been a good saviour in this pandemic. Now I can feel constructive for a while when I'm window-browsing products that I won't ever buy!

Amazon has a wide list of services/utilities which can be paid by automatic fetching. I have even paid my LIC Insurance Premiums through it.

Just added the customer number/policu number for the first time, and if there is a bill due.
It can also send you alerts (need to be setup) to remind you to pay a certain bill on time. Helped me pay my electricity bill (which I forgot about) during the ongoing tussle between the electricity company and consumers in Kolkata.

[motorpsycho]

I use Amazon and Paytm, usually check which one has any offer. Else I usually go with Amazon, only because in case I need support Amazon support is excellent and Amazon once paid me 200 Cashback because there was a delay on their side in conforming my payment.

[myavu]

Voted for Apps or mobile wallets (e.g. PayTM)

90% time I pay through Amazon Pay and rest PayTm.

I always get cash backs ranging from 30 to 100 through Amazon Pay using Credit Cards (Mostly Citi & HSBC).

[Vijin]

Voted for Apps.
I have found billpayment via Payzapp wallet (HDFC) is best for my usage, mostly because of cashback, convenience and best use of credit card.

[RYP]

This post may rub a salt or two, nothing personal proceed with caution.

A penny saved is a penny gained, unless we let that saved penny snowball into a bigger penny, no point in running behind cashbacks. 90% of people prefer an app which gives more cashback that current month, and seem to go hunting through a dozen of apps every month, all to save what, a 100rs? And use that 100 for what? To Swiggy food just because you have that 100?. It's beyond ridiculous. Why wouldn't one rather automate these mundane things and invest all that time & effort in a hobby or just that extra few minutes with family. I get it, why cashbacks exist and the psychology & lure of it, it's upto the individuals - us to reflect what is really necessary.

I myself is not a purist either, I've gone through this same circus of cashbacks & discount coupons for years and the bulb went off the day looked back and saw what exactly I saved. Nothing, it was nothing really. A lesson learnt - Invest in real assets not in the lure of petty penny saving.

Peace

[2000rpm]

I use Amazon - ICICI CC combination for all my payments.

I believe this it the best combination for Rewards without going back and forth looking for odders.

[kamilharis]

Voted Direct debit from my bank account.

I have added all my billers to my bank account. Starting from the car EMI to my postpaid sim card to WiFi bill & Electricity bill etc, all.

I have done this purposefully as I don't want to risk myself by skipping any monthly payment knowingly or unknowingly.

Once the billers are added the bank app will proudly show " Your Pending Bills " each and every time I login. No way out!

& At times I use third party apps for recharges or bill payments if they have added any promotion or cashback.

[sgm]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

I use Amazon's app to pay my utility bills - landline (for fiber internet), postpaid mobile connection and electricity bill. Convenient, fetches the monthly bill itself and I get cashback and other offers since I pay by Amazon's ICICI credit card.

I have completely switched to AmazonPay instead of credit card based payments. Amazon ICICI card will generally give you some extra discounts and on top of this, there will be other cash back offers by Amazon. Multiple Electricity/Water bills, mobile post paid/prepaid for family and parents, broadband, landline etc are easily managed. It is very convenient and a single portal for so many payments. It shows the bill details and amounts, so you can always double check and make the payments. You can always go back to the order history and print the invoice, payment details etc any time, make a new payment in single click from the history maintained etc are some very convenient feature.
Amazon Pay is pretty reliable and when I had issues once or twice, the money came back to the credit card account automatically within few days without any follow up.
The cashback are pretty good eg: for a post paid payment of 600/, you will get Rs 60/- immediate cashback on Citibank cards on Amazon Pay, so I just pay 600 always and the extra gets adjusted in the next cycle.

[Nalin1]

I open Mobikwik, Amazon Pay, Paytm and PhonePe before paying any bill or recharge.

Check which one benefits the most either through cashbacks or coupon codes or Supercash.

Then pay the bill or recharge amount using a credit card. Simple .

In all these years, I must have easily made many thousands in cashbacks and savings.

It is well worth it for those few extra minutes spent .

[amods]

Voted for Apps, primarily which provide direct cashback/discount.

1. Used to pay via paytm until they decided to stop giving direct cashbacks.

2. For credit card bills, I use CRED app, which is super convenient and adds up points equal to amount paid. That said, initially there were more offers when they started, but it is still good in the way that there are 1000, 5000, 10000 points etc worth lucky coupon sort of options which provide direct cashback to account. Usually, I split my bill payments into steps of 5000 rupees. Each month bill payment gives me approx 100-200 cash credited into account.

It is bit of hassle, but worth it.

3. Electricity, gas bills - mostly amazon pay or Payzapp.
4. Grocery from bigbasket only via PayZapp. If any other payment option provides more discount, I go for that. E.g. once Amex had 150rs. discount on a 2000 odd bill.
5. Internet bill, phone recharges - Airtel app - pay via Amazon pay. It gives a cashback + I earn Amazonpay ICICI card back as I have it.


P.s. recently, CRED app has come with paying rent option. Haven't tried it yet, but it seems it allows for payment via credit card. If that is true, it will lead to more credit card points. I pay the bill immediately for unwanted(read for point earning) credit card usage.