Money orders have been around since the Civil War era. Now that consumers have access to debit cards, credit cards, virtual wallets, and other methods of instantly transferring funds, these products are frequently overlooked. Surprisingly, despite their old-fashioned, tangible nature, money orders continue to provide a level of security and reliability that remains unmatched. Following are five qualities that make them the best option for taking care of important financial obligations.
1. These Funding Instruments Can Be Traced
Consumers are regularly advised against putting cash in the mail. Whether you’re sending off for something that you’ve seen in your favorite catalog, paying your utility bills, remitting monies for a club membership, or handling any other financial obligation, sending cash leaves you vulnerable in many ways. Even if a cash payment makes it safely through the mail, it will likely be handled by a number of different people before it is finally posted to your account. There is no fail-proof way to track your payment in this instance. Conversely, you can always work with companies that issue money orders to learn whether or not a specific order has been cashed. Much like checks, these financial instruments are made out to payees directly. Moreover, they often include memo sections that payers can use to reference their invoice numbers, billing addresses, or account numbers among other relevant details.
2. Their Accessible Even If You Don’t Have A Bank Account
One of the greatest benefits that money orders supply is optimum levels of accessibility. You don’t have to have a traditional banking account to take advantage of these products. In fact, all you really need is sufficient cash for covering the actual dollar value of your order, and a small amount of additional funding for covering any issuance fees. If you’ve bounced checks in the past, overdrawn your previous checking and savings accounts, or racked up other spending infractions that are making it hard for you to open a new banking account, you can use these products to continue meeting your financial obligations in a safe, secure, and completely reliable way.
3. The Funds Are Guaranteed
Money orders are never issued until the buyer has actually remitted the required funding. Unless a payer is purposefully attempting to use these products in a fraudulent way, such as by paying a bill and then reporting the payment lost or stolen, there is never the fear of being unable to cash them and get the full dollar value. This is hardly the case with paper checks. Paper checks have long been used to make payments before the required funding actually arrives. As the payer, you can rest assured that once you’ve sent your money order out, your bill has been paid, and that there’s no fear of having the payment bounce or otherwise be declined. Best of all, payees can enjoy thi same sense of security. This makes these products ideal for submitting car payments, rent payments, and other bills that consistently require prompt attention.
4. Money Orders Are Convenient And Easy To Obtain
You don’t have to travel the world to find and purchase money orders. They are offered at countless locations and often at a very nominal cost. When choosing a provider, however, it is important to understand the terms and conditions of this purchase. With your initial purchase receipt and the actual order, you should be able to get your cash back easily if you change your mind about the actual dollar amount or decide to cancel the intended payment entirely. Keep in mind that some issuers of these products make the return process more difficult than others. If you’ve just run out of checks, you don’t have to wait for your next shipment to arrive in the mail before making essential payments. You can easily rely on these financial instruments to get important payments to your utility companies, creditors, insurance company, and more. It’s also important to note that money orders can be significantly less costly than cashier’s checks.
5. These Products Help Consumers Avoid A Lot Of Unnecessary Stress
Like many consumers, you’re probably constantly surprised by just how many creditors have direct access to your bank accounts or debit cards, simply because you’ve given it to them. Once you start signing up for automatic payments and automatic account renewals, you run the risks of having small amounts of funding getting removed from your accounts without any special notice. There are few things worse than writing a check to pay a large and important bill, only to discover that your favorite gaming or video streaming service just took its annual payment out of your rent money. This is something that you don’t have to worry about with money orders. You can simply set the cash that you need for your bills aside, along with a few extra dollars to cover the costs of having the necessary money orders issued.
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