Forrester Research has some Dr. Laura-type advice for financial institutions about their electronic statements policies. Quit being wimps.
Too many banks that offer customers the choice of receiving electronic account statements through e-mail or Web links don't take the extra step of cutting off paper statement mailings to those customers who enroll. E-statement enrollment doubled to an all-time high of 39 percent of online banking users in 2005, but only eight percent of those have gone paperless.
Why don't customers ditch paper? Twenty-six percent simply don't have a use for e-statements, and 45 percent of non-adopters are too accustomed to paper for recordkeeping. Bad habits are also in the mix- twenty percent of consumers want paper lying around as bill-pay reminders.
For banks and billers, optional paper statement suspensions undercuts the business case for electronification, but heads off potential customer ire. But Forrester found that maybe companies aren't giving consumers enough credit: 63 percent could be incentivized to give up paper.
"Firms need to adopt a tough-love approach," counsels Forrester, pointing to the automatic cut-off policies by NetBank or Wells Fargo. Paper-loving customers could also be persuaded to go without through PDF attachments for printouts.
Customers are also likely to adopt e-statements and save trees if they are provided security guarantees and even some financial incentives. Thirty-one percent were amenable to dropping paper for $5 (as offered by Citibank), while some would respond to altruistic incentives. Bank of America offers a $1 donation offer to The Nature Conservancy and American Express pledges support for The Trust for Public Land if users are willing to spare their monthly mailing.
