Digital ebill storage and payment startup doxo announced an important new feature to its service today, the ability to automatically pay ebills that fall within preset maximum values. For example, as long as my family's wireless bill is under $250, doxo will automatically pay it and send me a confirmation message. If it's more, I get an alert advising me to take a look at my bill before it's paid.

That feature would have saved me more than $1,000 two years ago when I gave an old mobile phone to a new employee without thinking to upgrade the calling plan. I ended up paying $400 to $500 monthly bills for several cycles before I noticed it on my credit card statement. I was using estatements (which I never look at) and had no idea the charges had mushroomed from the $40/mo I'd been paying. 

Doxo also announced the addition of AT&T to the service, perhaps the biggest biller in the country, with nearly 100 million accounts. That should provide momentum that hopefully leads to more major billers supporting the platform. The only other national biller currently participating is Sprint.

Bottom line: Payment limits should help convince more consumers to enjoy the convenience of autopay, while still maintaining the control/peace of mind they are accustomed to when paying manually.

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Notes:
1. Doxo added payments in February this year (see post) and demo'd at FinovateSpring 2011 (watch video here).
2. Hearst-backed Manilla is another ebilling & filing contender, with an interesting partnership with Citibank that could jump-start its service.    
3. See our recent Online Banking Reports: Paperless Billing and Banking and Email Banking: Revitalizing the Channel, for more info.