I’m sure you’ve heard or read the story of Dr. Doolittle’s “Push Me Pull You“. However, push vs pull does not refer to this story. In fact, push vs pull is referencing your checking account. A pull occurs when you setup automatic payments to a vendor from your checking account. Each month they automatically withdraw (pull) the money from your account to satisfy the amount owed on your bill with that particular vendor. A push, on the other hand, occurs when you send an electronic payment to vendor from your account. Normally, you do this by utilizing your bank’s bill pay system.
While both of these ways are convenient for paying bills, one is better than the other. It is better to use the push rather than the pull. The main reason is that with a pull you are entering your personal checking account information into a vendor’s site. You do not know what type of security they have in place to protect your information. This leaves your checking account very vulnerable to attack.
With a push you are directing where the money goes from your account to a particular vendor. Financial institutions, typically, have good security in place to protect your information. Whenever you can, choose to push your funds to the vendor rather than having them pull the money from your account.
