I needed to pay my annual renter's insurance bill. I thought that I would just hope online and take care of it 5 minutes. I log on to travelers.com (website of the $26 billion corporation, Traveler's) and select the option to create a new account, and here are the steps:
Access to MyTravelers requires two steps:
Step 1: Create a personal User ID and register at least one of your accounts.
Step 2: You will receive a one-time PIN (Personal Identification Number) in the mail within 3-5 business days. You will need to use your PIN in order to complete the registration process.
<FONT color=#810081>http://www.travelers.com/iwcm/MyTravelers/Info/registrationhelp.html</FONT>
Are you kidding me? There goes the whole online convenience factor. I can only remember one other site doing something similar -- the Department of Education's student loan automated payment system. I thought even that was overkill too, but perhaps a little more justified since it was a $15,000 loan (although I be thrilled if someone could hack into that account and pay it off for me) and you expect those kind of pointless bureautic hoops from the gubmint.
But WTF is Traveler's thinking here? I want to make a one-time $135 payment. I don't want to wait 3-5 days for a PIN in the mail. So I decided to call their 800 number and I enter my account number, zip code, and bank routing/account numbers and hang up the phone three minutes later.