Nationwide BS statements changed to paperless, without being requested

Microbe65

I have just received my NW statement and noticed on the accompanying sheet that the account has been made paperless, even though I had not requested or
consented to this. To revert back to paper statements, you need to logon and change your preferences.

This is quite a departure from organisations asking if you wish to go paperless and I suspect that many will not realise this change has happened until paper statements stop arriving.

gt94sss2

NatWest and RBS do the same. 

[Deleted User]

Good, the last thing the world needs is more and more paper copies of things being sent out in envelopes every month when transactions can be seen almost in real time on apps or computers. Checking statements monthly is almost redundant now particularly in cases like fraud when it's better to notice immediately 

someone

I had this message from RBS recently sent by email. Really annoying. Yes, I have online banking but I use it in addition to my monthly statement and not a replacement. And this is someone who works in IT.

colsten

As long as the few who still really need paper statements have the option to change to paper, or request one-off paper, I think it is fantastic if the banks take the initiative and put all their customers on paperless. The environmental and administrative savings must be enormous, as the vast majority of people won't need paper statements on a regular basis. Similar goes for other companies with millions of customers, i.e. gas, water, electricity, phone, broadband.

JGB1955

It would help if statements printed off the internet were accepted for money-laundering checks.  I had to (temporarily) change to paper statements from Nationwide to satisfy the demands of a share dealing company.  Seems they haven't caught up with the 21st Century quite yet.  

adamp87

JGB1955 said:

It would help if statements printed off the internet were accepted for money-laundering checks.  I had to (temporarily) change to paper statements from Nationwide to satisfy the demands of a share dealing company.  Seems they haven't caught up with the 21st Century quite yet.  

I agree with this but the problem is they are easily edited or manipulated just on photoshop.

So I think getting a bank certified copy is better even if it’s a pain

EssexExile

JGB1955 said:

It would help if statements printed off the internet were accepted for money-laundering checks.  I had to (temporarily) change to paper statements from Nationwide to satisfy the demands of a share dealing company.  Seems they haven't caught up with the 21st Century quite yet.  

I just asked my bank for a one off statement when needed.

colsten

adamp87 said:

JGB1955 said:

It would help if statements printed off the internet were accepted for money-laundering checks.  I had to (temporarily) change to paper statements from Nationwide to satisfy the demands of a share dealing company.  Seems they haven't caught up with the 21st Century quite yet.  

I agree with this but the problem is they are easily edited or manipulated just on photoshop.

So I think getting a bank certified copy is better even if it’s a pain

A normal bank statement you receive in the Post is not certified. In many cases, it now looks 100% the same as the statement  you can download in online banking. If you need it certified, you need to make special arrangements for the certification. 

[Deleted User]

colsten said:

adamp87 said:

JGB1955 said:

It would help if statements printed off the internet were accepted for money-laundering checks.  I had to (temporarily) change to paper statements from Nationwide to satisfy the demands of a share dealing company.  Seems they haven't caught up with the 21st Century quite yet.  

I agree with this but the problem is they are easily edited or manipulated just on photoshop.

So I think getting a bank certified copy is better even if it’s a pain

A normal bank statement you receive in the Post is not certified. In many cases, it now looks 100% the same as the statement  you can download in online banking. If you need it certified, you need to make special arrangements for the certification. 

It is still common for places to say they do not accept online print outs and a copy of the statment must come from the bank.
My HSBC statements online look almost identical to the post copy, however with my RBS ones they are completely different. I personally keep five years worth of paper statements. 

colsten

I rarely ever get asked to prove my address, as I can usually be identified electronically. However, quite recently some obscure small building society required original documents for proof of ID and address. For the latter, I sent them a Starling Bank statement that I produced and printed from their website (Starling don't do paper statements). This was accepted without questioning.

Though even if people really need, on rare occasions, a statement that came through the Post, or even one that is certified by the issuing bank, this is not a good reason for getting regular paper statements "just in case". We all need to change our mindset and become more environmentally conscious. Everybody's contribution is valuable, however small we may think it might be. I appreciate that not everybody has internet access and online banking - but those that post on an internet Forum really don't have many excuses.

NB. I don't consider myself a tree-hugger but I am very concerned what unnecessary use of paper does to our trees, and to the environment in general.