Yahoo, beginning to apparently make moves without former head Terry Semel, is dumping its bill paying service in September.
The service, Yahoo Bill Pay, was 8 years old -- making it one of the site's and the Internet's oldest services. The currently reported date the service will close is September 14, 2007.
The closure appears to be the first house cleaning done by founder Jerry Yang and top lieutenant Susan Decker. At the time of its introduction, consumers could choose from standalone bill-paying services that charged a monthly fee or hope their financial institution offered the service. That buildout did not occur for years, however, and even when it did, one of the proprietary services was often the private-labeled backend.
What does this mean for consumers? Consumer Help Web President Joan Bounacos says most financial institutions now offer the service for free. "If you can't find the service at your own bank or credit union, companies like Quicken-maker Intuit, are happy to sell your their service. But consumers should shop hard because online banking, including bill payment is quickly becoming a staple throughout the nation. It not only benefits the consumer by centralizing their data, but helps businesses improve their cash flow, which hopefully results in lowered or stable prices," Bounacos said.
Labels: BillPay, online banking, Yahoo
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