First of all, there are two ways of going about automatic bill pay. Your first option is to set it up with each individual bill collector, they usually offer this on their website or on the back of your monthly statement. They will take the amount of your bill from a credit card or debit card each month without you resending any information.

The other way is to set up auto bill pay with your bank or credit union. They will take care of paying each bill with the information that you give them. They will take the money from your open account with them, if you have more than one then you can set up different bills to come out of different accounts as would be best for you.

Pros of automatic bill pay

 This is a very convenient method, it requires only a little bit of effort once and your bills are set up for as long as you want.
 It can save money since you don't have to buy stamps or use the gas to make the payment.
 Your bills will always be on time. They are taken out in time to be on time each month, which means that you won't be paying late fees.
 It is great for your predictable payments, the ones that are the same every month. You know what is going to come out and when, but all you have to do is record it into your check register or your financial record.
 There is less paper work for you to mess with, it is all done without paper on your part.

Cons that have been found with automatic bill pay

 Some companies charge a fee for doing auto bills, banks and credit unions usually don't though.
 If you are using your checking account for auto bill pay and there is not enough money to pay the bill in the account then you will have to pay overdraft fees.
 You may find that you are not paying attention to your bills anymore. This means that any mistakes won't get caught. Many people just ignore the monthly statements (whether paper or email) each month because they know the bill is going to be paid.
 If there are any problems, the paper trail is gone. The pro of being a paperless option can quickly turn into a con in a problem situation.
 Some companies make it very hard to stop automatic bill pay, and you may get the runaround when you are trying to turn it off. This can take a toll on your finances if a payment is made after you had tried to turn it off.

For many people, auto bill pay is a convenience that they enjoy. You just have to be careful. Most people choose to use their bank or credit union when setting it up because they already know all of your personal information, why hand that out to lots of companies so that they have it too.