New management company in play for my HOA. New company, unknown risk. The problem was a result of rollover from the old company. So, obviously there was a hand-off problem. I had to resolve it.

Payment lost in mail is why I had to get cancelled checks to prove payment. My property tax is paid by my mortgage company. And here in the US, we know how honest they are.

>You're right about that, Craig. It needs more safeguards before it can be more widely used.
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>If you think about it tho, letters of credit were used for centuries and what were they but debit authorizations?
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>I use it in cases like the HOA where risks of fraud are low and there's plenty of time to correct any problems that might arise. At least 90% of the 300 members here use direct debit and it saves the HOA a lot of money- our money.
>I also pay insurance premiums and real estate taxes that way, because I know the other party is honest and I can control the exact date that it will hit my account and I know they will be paid in time. Checks can be lost in the mail or lie around in a inbox- direct debts are more controllable.