A new push to move credit card users to a digital statement will now come with a penalty for those who don’t want to comply.
Credit card companies from big name retailers have been silently rolling out a fee of $1.99 if you wish to keep receiving paper statements.
One of the biggest offenders is Synchrony Bank, and they have co-branded and store-affiliated credit cards with over 100 cards in their lineup, which include Sam’s Club® Credit Card, the Lowe’s Store Card, and the Amazon Store Card.
In November of last year, Citibank released new guidance to its customers saying that going paperless was “now required to access your account on Citi.com and the Citi Mobile App,”
There isn’t a law banning paper statements, however, but permission is required in order to start paperless billing.
In a report to NBC Los Angeles Alicia Galowitsch said that the change started to add up for them. They account for every penny.
“It’s very tight. It’s very tight to where we had to start going to a food bank,” said Ms. Galowitsch. “It’s going to be $11.94,” said Galowitsch.
The couple has a number of credit cards and receive statements to help with organization.
‘If I’m not here, the payments are going to be late because Mark’s not going to know what to do. With paper statements, everything is written down for him,’ she noted.
Other concerns come with users who are not technologically savvy.
Business professor Elaine Luther from Point Park University says online banking can pose a threat to security.
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Online Reddit users have also been raising concerns regarding the fee.
‘I have the Paypal mastercard and got a letter in the mail today. Beginning in April they will start charging if you are not using electronic statements. It is a small fee of $2.50 but still just a heads up if anyone has any cards by them may want to check.’
‘Closing my account, ’one user wrote on a thread titled: Synchrony to begin charging for paper statements,’ they said.
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