Barclays Going paperless March 2023

Section62

Rob5342 said:

It is a dwindling number though. I was banking online with Lloyds 23 years ago and I have a number of relatives over that are over 80 and they all bank online quite happily. Barclays still offer paper statements but they can't carry on forever when the demand keeps dropping.

Similar things can (and are) said about cash and cheques.  But invariably when the surface of the subject is scratched there are the 'forgotten' who absolutely rely on a particular service.

The social aspect of service provision cannot be ignored.

There is no reason, other than cost, why Barclays (or any other bank) cannot continue supplying printed paper statements indefinitely.  But the question will always remain whether the cost of doing so is proportional to the need.

Barclays also provide statements in braille (i.e. on paper) and by audio CD.  I'm not going to guess what the relative cost of those services (particularly the audio CD) is compared to printed paper statements, but a hard headed business manager may look at the cost and say it should be stopped.  But who here would be willing to put their hand up and say that braille and audio statements should be stopped in the equivalent way the end of printed paper statements is being called for?

There are people whose situation means they cannot use electronic banking/electronic statements.  Until a way is found of meeting their needs through some alternative arrangements, the end of printed paper statements is just as wrong as ending other options such as large print, braille and audio CD.

And while the sytems are in place to produce printed paper statements, any customer who wants them shouldn't be made to feel guilty for doing so.

Grumpy_chap

Section62 said:

We (as a country) still need a universal postal service, 

I agree with you.

Unfortunately, the postal workers current actions may well serve to prove that we don't and / or that the service level is reduced from what we have now.
Any business that moves work away from Royal Mail will not necessarily run right straight back once the strikes are over.
That means the residual volume is reduced and all remains as a "not important not urgent" content.
The Royal Mail have already suggested that the deliveries reduce from 6-days per week to 5-days.  If we are forced to survive with an entirely unreliable mail service, the logic on reduced deliveries could be extended to alternate days, so a property gets either Mon - Wed - Fri or Tue - Thur - Sat deliveries.

I don't support any of that but there is a real risk that the postal workers persists and do themselves out of demand.  We will all be worse off.

GTR_King

Section62 said:

And while the system are in place to produce printed paper statements, any customer who wants them shouldn't be made to feel guilty for doing so.

I agree with your comments paper statements should still be available for anyone who wants them, or for example if they wanna save money in posting/printing etc, in select big branches have a machine (not the ones we have now) where you put your card in & you can print off (one time) official paper statements or copy statements in colour

Section62

GTR_King said:

Section62 said:

And while the system are in place to produce printed paper statements, any customer who wants them shouldn't be made to feel guilty for doing so.

I agree with your comments paper statements should still be available for anyone who wants them, or for example if they wanna save money in posting/printing etc, in select big branches have a machine (not the ones we have now) where you put your card in & you can print off (one time) official paper statements or copy statements in colour

I don't disagree with you, but the problem with a branch-based solution is the ongoing closure of branches, added to which from a basic environmental perspective it makes more sense to move an envelope containing a document from A to B than for a person to travel from B to A to print the document and then travel A to B back home.

I also suspect the cost of installing and maintaining these machines - even in a limited number of branches - could easily exceed the cost of running a centralised bulk mailing service.

GTR_King

That is soo true but if cheaper then that’s an idea but see what happens

would work in larger branches where you put machine at back somewhere with one person only in area except for branch staff, you would then put card/pin in select what copy statement you want or original (one time only) & it would print it out like paper copy you get in post, 

that way if people wanted a paper copy of their statement they can have one 

hoc

Paper statements are often out of need not a preference or some sort of anti-environmentalist stance. I've often had to switch temporarily to paper statements because my branch refuses to stamp or otherwise provide to meet identification purposes.

J63320

When I first became a customer of TSB, in the 1980s, it was possible to get a statement printed at one of their ATMs. It was about 8” square, and included all the transactions I’d made since the last time I printed one. IIRC, if I got to a pageful of transactions without requesting a print, the system would print it and send it in the post.  Now, following the merger with Lloyds, and the subsequent split, I’m a Lloyds customer and my statement, which arrives every month in the post and will continue to do so while I have anything to do with it, consists of at least two sheets of A4, and includes all sorts of information that I don’t need. I also receive, every year, about 8 pages of stuff about all the charges I haven’t had to pay.

GTR_King

I chose to keep my Barclays paper statements!

I am happy to keep them as being Autistic Male find it easer for me to read it on paper than on a screen!

I always keep my original statements safely stored away & when they get soo old (after so many years) I securely shred them! 

Then once a year I order a years worth of statements for my accounts to see what I have spend over the year etc on bills stuff for the flat etc wright note on them etc once That’s done I securely shred them! 

Work for me and being Autistic it helps doing it that way!
 

When it got to March 2023 did anyone who got switched to digital statements did you change it back or keep it digital?