![]() If a consumer passes away, that permanent record helps family members find missing accounts. If you’re audited, you’ve got paper copies of everything. If they make an error, you’ve got proof you paid the bill. When there’s a dispute, you have a timed snapshot. This feature helps family members of older consumers track bills.įinally, the NCLC points out that paper is a permanent record of your account. The clutter and handling of paper are a feature, not a bug. You might post it in the fridge or delegate it to your spouse or accountant. When you get that paper, it has a due date you need to take care of. If a thief were testing your credit card, would you always be able to see that small charge? That “convenience” causes you to miss errors that cost you money. If your bills are on auto-pay, you don’t have much reason to read your statements. More likely, you’ll figure out “looks good” and move on to the next email. If your paperless bill is just a pdf, you’ll either need an extraordinary vision or steady hands to pinch and zoom each charge. Speaking of small, as more people check email on mobile, those statements are harder to read. If you’re not careful to opt out of marketing messages, neither you nor your spam filter might be able to tell the difference. ![]() At first glance, you can’t tell if that’s a bill or promotion in the email. Some of the reasons are obvious, like broadband access and older consumers’ technical savvy.Įven the tech-savvy need to be wary of paperless billing. The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) analyzed paperless billing and found the concept not consumer-friendly. I guess paper is really expensive for them. My bank now charges a $2.00 fee if I want a statement each month. The harder sell is that I can’t download the financial data to services like Mint or Quicken unless I go paperless. A few places offered me statement credits or gift cards. AT&T recently told me I could get Plenty of points for my bill, but only if I do paperless billing. They’ll enter me in a drawing for free products or services. The Soft Sell and the Hard Sell To Make You Switch I recycle everything, and I hate junk mail. I also respect the environmental aspects of electronic statements. I know I have to file that stuff every month. They could get account numbers and use them in a targeted social engineering scam. A thief could steal information from your mailbox and cause problems. Less paper means less killing of trees.Īll these benefits have some truth to them. You could get a paper cut! Most of all, paperless is better for the environment. ![]() You hate the hassle of opening a paper envelope and reading a bill. Stacks of paper pile up and have to be dealt with. Oh no! Of course, once they see the bill, they might realize they don’t have much to steal. Someone can snatch your bill out of your mailbox and steal your identity. ![]()
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