Time is money and you have to make the best use of it, there is always the arduous task of making payments for services such as electricity, gas, water, property taxes, fixed and mobile telephony or payment of bank loans, not making them in a timely manner results in service cuts or extra charges such as a late fee.
An alternative to avoid these situations is the direct debit, this consists of the holder of a bank account authorizing and ordering the bank to make the periodic and recurring payment of certain services through the automatic charge to their debit card or checking account.
Direct debit allows you to reduce travel times to payment centers.
According to data from the National Survey of Financial Inclusion 2021, branches are the furthest access channel for Mexicans with four kilometers away for 77% of the population, which represents a transfer of 22 minutes.
While the banking correspondents such as Telecom, Farmacias Guadalajara, Farmacias del Ahorro or the convenience stores Oxxo and 7 Eleven are located, on average, four kilometers away for 87.5% of the inhabitants, which implies a transfer of 13 minutes , on average, for urban areas. According to BBVA data, these transfers can generate a loss of up to 100 hours a year.
Direct debit not only helps to avoid wear and tear in transfer times, but also to reduce the collection of surcharges or fines for non-payment, according to data previously cited by the director of Financial Education Citibanamex, Juan Luis Ordaz, one in three Mexicans have late payment.
Only spending on electricity services represents 5.1% of total payments in Mexican households, while for late payment of service, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) charges 91 pesos for reconnection to home. While according to data from the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT) communication services reduce the pockets of families between 300 and 700 pesos per month, and the charges vary between 80 and 100 pesos, in addition to waiting for the reconnection of services .
On the other hand, the direct debit prevents the user from paying extra commissions, data from the National Commission for the Protection and Defense of Users of Financial Services (Condusef) indicate that at least 13 banking institutions charge for the payment of electricity or telephony and the price can vary between 10 pesos and 26 pesos.
Another advantage offered by the direct debit service are discounts and bonuses with some banking entities or service providers, an example of this is Santander, the bank offers a bonus for making the direct debit; Cable and telephone companies also offer promotions such as a greater number of megabytes or additional channels.
Don’t neglect your finances
Despite the fact that direct debit is a tool that favors cost control and avoids cutting off services and extra expenses due to fines or reconnection, there are factors to take into account when direct debiting a payment.
Direct debit payments must be considered within the monthly fixed expenses, which will help maintain a clear idea of the monthly economic outlay, since these charges meet the frequency with which they were contracted.
To maintain greater control over direct debit payments, the user can specify the maximum amount of the charges.
For example, the account holder designates a maximum amount of 1,000 pesos for payment of the electricity bill, if it exceeds that amount, the charge is not made and the user can do it on their own.
Due to the above, it is advisable to review the account statements to verify that the payment has been successful, since placing amounts or having less capital can cause the payment not to be made.
Regarding unrecognized charges, the account holder has a maximum of 60 days from the cut-off date of the checking account or debit card to notify the bank and request reimbursement.