Six Reasons to Go Paperless

Six Reasons to Go Paperless

As consumers, we’re continually looking for ways to add convenience and control into our lives. That’s why paperless options have become a popular alternative to traditional paper-laden accounts. If you haven’t pulled the plug on paper just yet, here are some reasons to give paperless solutions a closer look.

Save Time and Money

Have you ever added up the time and money spent to transact business the paper-based way? There’s the time it takes to write checks, fill out envelopes, find the stamps, walk to the mailbox, and then file copies in your records. Not to mention the cost of buying envelopes and stamps.

With paperless options, you can skip all that. With a quick login to your mobile app or online banking, you can pay bills and check account activity quickly and at no cost.

Improve Your Security

As many as 9 million Americans are the victims of identity theft every year, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Two places are among identity thieves’ favorite sources: your mailbox and your trash. Bills and financial statements offer just the right information for dumpster divers to open new accounts in your name. A quick drive-by past your full mailbox is easy access for identity thieves to a treasure trove of personal information. Even shredding documents is not always a sure-fire way to protect yourself from the most diligent fraudsters. With paperless options, you do not have to worry about your financial information being stolen from those locations.

Have 24/7 Access

Paperless solutions give you self-service freedom to access your accounts when and where it’s convenient for you. No need to wait for the next monthly paper statement in the mail, or until the bank opens to call for assistance. With estatements, mobile banking, and online banking, you control access to real-time account information anytime you want it.

Save a Tree

It takes about eight trees to produce between 1,000 and 2,000 pounds of paper, says the Sierra Club. That’s the equivalent of 2–3 Americans’ average annual paper usage. Going paperless helps eliminate paper usage, and that in turn helps save trees, reduces the water usage required to produce paper, and cuts down on the energy and costs of recycling.

Clear the Clutter

Let’s admit it; who really loves going to the mailbox only to find it stuffed full of checking account statements, credit card bills, auto and home loan bills, quarterly investment reports, or any of the countless other solicitations that go straight into the trash bin? That paper-filled mailbox becomes clutter on your desk, and creates yet more things to file, only to have to securely retain or discard later. Eliminate the clutter and overflowing files by switching to online, paperless bills and statements.

Find Stuff Faster

What if your car needs repairs and you can’t remember when you last had it serviced? You could spend hours searching through old paper statements to find the information, or you could log in to your paperless mobile or online account and run a quick search by time period, amount, vendor name, or even type of transaction. Voila!