Convenience, security, speed, environmental safety are some of the benefits we would derive from opting for electronic statements over paper statements. We should therefore switch from paper statements to electronic bank (and other) statements, given the benefits associated with such a move:
SECURITY. Electronic statements are more secure than paper statements. Mail gets lost sometimes. So, in the unfortunate event that yours gets lost, your account information is at risk should your statement end in the hands of a wrong person. On the other hand, if you use electronic statements and keep your online password secure, you will not have to worry about anyone else accessing your account information. Additionally, you could easily put your information in the trash and you never know who is digging in the bin just to see if they could get lucky and come across some useful information that they can use to commit fraud against you. Not possible with electronic statements.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN. Printing paper statements involves a lot of activities that destroy the environment. For instance, the cutting of trees, running of factories to produce paper, ink and printer products, transportation of all these supplies, etc, all have a negative impact on the environment. So, as long as you are not going to print your electronic statements from home, we can contribute to a safer environment by opting for electronic statements.
MORE ORGANIZED. There is a lot of clutter involved with paper statements. So you will have to deal with so much paperwork around your home if you get every statement in the mail. And sometimes, you can easily misplace useful information, which you otherwise would not have to worry about if you were using electronic statements. You can view your statements online, save them somewhere in a secure folder and access them when you want to. Plus, you can easily import your information into financial software such as Microsoft Money, Quicken, etc.
CONVENIENCE AND LESS TIME CONSUMING. Electronic statements provide a lot of convenience not possible with paper statements. By going electronic, you can access your statements from any computer with internet access, pay your bill on a click of a button and go on with your other activities. This saves you a lot of time that you would have otherwise wasted looking for a paper statement, writing a check and going out to the post office to mail it.
LESS COSTLY. You can save some money by using electronic statements. There are no stamps and checks to mail, no gas wasted driving to the post office, etc. And there is no worrying about late payments, should your mail be delayed (electronic payments usually post when you submit them or at least within a day), or in case you forget to mail the payment at all because your statement is stuck somewhere in a pile of papers.
BANKS AND BUSINESSES SAVE MONEY if customers choose electronic statements. The cost of buying paper, ink, printer maintenance, as well as posting the statements would be eliminated in the case of electronic statements. Such cost savings can be passed on to customers in the form of better services. So, as banks and other institutions save, customers also benefit.
Given such benefits, we should opt for electronic over paper statements.