My Opinion column is usually written as an editorial in the third person with little personalization. Can’t do that this time around because I truly feel this is an important issue.
The computer age is a marvelous age. I am a self taught computer guy starting years and years ago with a “word processor” then moving to computers then moving to dial up access then moving to cable access then moving to wireless then moving to smartphones and tablets. In the process I have taken advantage of all the digital age has to offer including emails, instant messaging, texting, and online banking, including online payments starting with allowing companies to withdraw money from my checking account, and now using my bank to make direct payments to those I wish to pay.
Online banking is great. I am using it more and more now paying most of my bills on line. I keep a payee list on the bank site and go down the list twice each month. I use QuickBooks as my check register. Because I use an old version of QuickBooks I can’t connect my bank directly to QuickBooks, but it will happen sometime this year when I upgrade my QuickBooks program. When I make a payment through my bank it will automatically post to QuickBooks. For now I do double entries.
My bank is PNC. Each time I go to its online site to do banking, it tells me that I can receive my bills electronically through the bank and eliminate the paper statements that I get in the mail. I tried it with some of the utilities while maintaining the paper statements “in addition to” and it worked alright.
Now comes the bad news. On more than one occasion over the past few months I could not access my account online. The PNC website was inaccessible. This is a MAJOR problem for those of us who pay our bills on line. If, for example, my Mastercard payment is due January 8, I would tell the bank on January 7 to pay Mastercard the next day…and voila…it happens. But when the website goes down, how do I pay Mastercard?
Most recently, this problem developed over New Year's Day. The PNC site went down. In the past when this has happened, it lasted only a few hours, but this time it lasted several days…and I had bills to pay. I called the local branch, and they didn’t know it was happening. I called the 800 number, and it requires three different passwords to get to a customer service representative, and I only had two because I don’t use ATM machines. Finally I went on line, and found out from a general Google search that the PNC site was indeed down for some of us, and on the discussion boards I found an alternative route into the site. It was slow at best, but any port in a storm.
After the fact, I got two emails from PNC telling me that their security system indicated that there was a cyber attack on PNC and other banks, and in the process of putting up defenses against the cyber attack, they inadvertently blocked out many of its legit customers. It recommended we go to our branches for assistance or do transactions over the telephone…with those three passwords I don't have and long wait periods. About an hour later, I got a promotional email from PNC telling me I can eliminate paper bills by allowing my creditors to sent statements electronically to PNC. The bank, in turn, would provide me notice when I log onto their site to pay my bills.
After I regained online access, I printed out my statements from PNC and reconciled my QuickBooks program to the penny. I made sure that there were no automatic withdrawals from my PNC account and double checked that I receive paper copies of all my bills either at the office or home.
The moral to this story is very clear. We are just one power outage or one cyber attack from being back in the Stone Age. We have become so reliant on the internet for commerce that it won’t take a whole lot to bring this nation to a grinding halt notwithstanding whatever good faith efforts are made to prevent it. Minimally, look at what happened with Hurricane Sandy…and that was "just" a natural disaster. Think about a terrorist assault on our electric grid or banking system. This is scary stuff.
PNC is a great bank and it does a really good job. Their customer service, at least at their banks, is outstanding although their telephone support needs work. And the online banking service PNC provides is terrific.
But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be prudent. Keep some cash at home. Keep a separate set of books that does not rely on internet access. Keep a supply of checks, envelopes and stamps to pay bills via mail if necessary. Get paper bills sent to your home no matter how attractive paperless billing may seem.
We live in wonderful times filled with marvels those of us my age could never imagine. On the other hand, we live in dangerous times. Discretion is always the better part of valor. I just may keep doing those double entries.
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