Source: Bigstock

The growing value of recurring payments is obvious to companies who want to be paid -- but even consumers, which is to say, spenders, are recalibrating old payment habits to fit a new financial lifestyle. Checks don't translate online. Our finances are not so much a matter of cash on hand but more a mental bottom line, made real in a virtual existence online, that moves the account balance down and up as we spend and get paid. Credit cards have nothing to do with loans and eve...