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Bills are probably聽the last thing you want to think about, so you might be curious about聽automatic payments聽鈥� where you set up regular, recurring transfers from your bank account to settle聽your electric, phone, cable and other bills聽by the due date every month. One less thing, right?

Careful, though. There are two ways to sign up聽鈥� through your bank or through the company where you have an account 鈥� but in either case, you鈥檒l still need to pay attention. Misusing聽this feature at your bank or credit union could end up costing you more than it helps you.

Here are the pros and cons to consider before signing up for automatic bill pay.

Pros

It鈥檚 convenient.聽Instead of visiting several different websites or fielding mailed invoices at various times during the month, you can automate the bill-paying process.聽If you do this through your bank,聽your bills can be organized and viewed聽in one place. And some companies will email to let you know they are about to take a payment. In a sense, instead of you going to them, they come to you.

It can improve聽your credit score.聽The single biggest component of your聽credit score聽is your payment history, and FICO reports that negative marks on your credit history can fade over time when you are聽consistent with payments. With聽automatic bill pay, you can keep on time and avoid delinquency.

It鈥檚 secure.聽Data breaches make headlines, but聽online banking聽is聽no less secure聽than leaving a check in an envelope in an unguarded mailbox. In fact, your accounts may be better protected through聽the encryption techniques that banks use聽online to secure customers鈥� information.

Cons

You risk overdraft fees 鈥�聽Some payments fluctuate in amount, and if you鈥檙e not careful, your account may be overdrawn.聽Overdraft fees vary聽by institution, but the median聽is $34. Keep tabs on your bank account and have enough in there to cover all your automatic payments.

鈥� and late fees.聽Even though it鈥檚 called 鈥渁utomatic,鈥� a payment still takes time to process and reach a merchant or service provider. Confirm how long it takes for payments to arrive so you can set payment dates accordingly and avoid late charges.

They might make a costly mistake.聽What if your phone company accidentally withdraws your monthly payment twice? Or your cable provider adds a zero to your balance and takes out $850 instead of $85? Such聽mistakes, while rare, can happen, and redressing them takes time and effort.

How to use automatic bill pay wisely

Sign up in the right place.聽Is your bill for the same amount every month, or does it vary? The answer should determine where you sign up for automatic payments. Your bank or credit union likely keeps you to a fixed amount, so this is good for bills that are聽standard or prorated. You could manually adjust your outgoing payments, but then it鈥檚 no longer automatic.

For accounts where your balance changes each month,聽such as聽a credit card, it鈥檚 better to sign up for automatic payments directly through them, so they take the full amount owed.

Set up electronic alerts.聽Some banks and credit unions offer email or text reminders that let you know聽when聽your balance is running low or when a bill is due. Think of yourself as a manager. You鈥檙e delegating the task of paying your bills, but you still want to know when something pops up that requires your attention. Alerts will help.

Don鈥檛聽take an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach when it comes to automatic payments. Even though this service is meant聽to聽simplify your life, it can have the opposite effect if聽you鈥檙e not careful.

Melissa Lambarena is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email:mlambarena@nerdwallet.com. This article first appeared at NerdWallet.