Paperless Plight: Growing Resistance Outpaces Adoption Among US Bank Account Holders

With more US consumers accessing their bank accounts through multiple channels today, the value of a paper snapshot of their financial activity would seem to have shrunk considerably. And yet the percentage of US bank account holders who have given up paper statements averages just 24%. Worse still, 37% of account holders who receive a paper statement today say they will never abandon paper in favor of online statements. Soft selling paperless adoption on the strength of environmental and convenience pitches has been marginally successful at best. Banking eBusiness managers need to consider more aggressive tactics to eliminate paper statements, including requiring all new accounts to be paperless and setting a conversion deadline for all others.