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E-Statement Adoption Best Practices

  

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Build incentives to convert customers from paper to electronic statements

Today, paper statements are a standard feature of most banks and credit unions. But times are changing; the industry is moving quickly away from plain old paper to electronic statements. Financial institutions implement electronic statements to save money, streamline processes, and to better serve customers and members online. E-statements save trees and help eliminate manual workflow.  

But despite the benefits of electronic statements to both consumers and financial firms, research indicates a rather sluggish adoption of electronic statements by customers. In a study last year, Javelin Research found that only 15% of customers had given up paper statements entirely. So the question becomes: how can you motivate customers to make the move to online statements?

One way is through additional fees for paper. American Express, for example, offers electronic statements free of charge but charges customers an additional fee per paper statement. This is becoming a common practice, but be warned that consumers are not ready for an e-statement mandate. Last year T-mobile had to back down from its plan to start charging its customers $1.50 per month for paper statements. Customer backlash prompted the reversal, coupled with the threat of government intervention over the proposed change.

If you are serious about reducing paper and postage expense, give your customers a reason to change their behavior. Low-cost gifts, such as a pair of movie tickets, meal coupons or a Starbucks card can be an effective and less draconian approach. Discounted rates on loans and other services are also common incentives and sweepstakes can be an exciting way to raise e-adoption awareness. For example Wells Fargo recently ran a successful sweepstake campaign where every account that switched to paperless statements was entered to win $25,000. Runners up were eligible to win $2,500 each.

These days when everyone wants to “be green” and “save some green,” banks, credit unions and card issuers are all working hard to eliminate paper statements. It's better to offer various enticements to go electronic rather than forcing a new fee or paperless policy your customers.