Credit card company forcing online statements

Stuart_W

I think even if the wording can be interpretted to mean printed copies must be available, these could of course be chargable and built into the account fees. I think most phone companies still offer the option for a printed paper bill in the post - but you will pay a couple of quid for it each time Can't see why banks couldn't move to this. 

Chrysalis

Lloyds, Halifax owner contacted me very recently to say thy are stopping my paper statements although they claim its temporary.  I cannot remember the reason.

I have had printed statements accepted as proof for when I needed to offer proof of finances.

eskbanker

dreaMer001 said:

eskbanker said:

badmemory said:

I do hope though that they are not doing this to people who do NOT manage their accounts on line as I suspect a couple of my friends could have a serious problem.

Their email (quoted earlier in the thread) clarifies that they're only stopping sending paper statements to those already accessing their accounts online.

Op can stop online access, phone Halifax and tell them this and ask them to send paper statements. When the paper statements start coming through, start online access again.

When he receives letter again saying we noticed you're using online access, rinse and repeat the same above process.

If not, use a Subject Access Request to ask for statements (and other personal information if necessary). It's free. Best to do it via post as the organisation then is obliged to provide the personal info in the same medium as the request. We can make it electronically then ask for response in paper format, but I think the organisation just has to 'do it's best' to make provision (it's not bound).

The SAR process doesn't oblige them to reissue statements in identical form to the posted version though, so chances are you'd just receive exactly what you can already generate yourself in online banking - granted, this could perhaps be useful for those who don't have access to a printer if that's their objection to not receiving paper statements, but not for those who feel they need 'originals' for proving ID....

retiredbanker1

The reason apparently that the Lloyds banking group are having problems is that the company that sends statements out is on the verge of administration - Lloyds have given them facilities to carry on pending the sale of the business.

GTR_King

That’s the reason hopefully LBG will get it sorted soon

Fingerbobs

Generally speaking, I'm in favour of paperless. My only minor gripe with online statements is that they're not retained indefinitely, and on occasion I've wanted to refer back to an old statement to find a particular transaction, only to find they don't go back far enough. Yes, I know you can just download and save the PDF statements every month, but with numerous accounts it's quite a chore. With data storage so cheap these days, I don't really see why the retention period needs to be so short. 

eskbanker

Fingerbobs said:

Generally speaking, I'm in favour of paperless. My only minor gripe with online statements is that they're not retained indefinitely, and on occasion I've wanted to refer back to an old statement to find a particular transaction, only to find they don't go back far enough. Yes, I know you can just download and save the PDF statements every month, but with numerous accounts it's quite a chore. With data storage so cheap these days, I don't really see why the retention period needs to be so short. 

The retention period is likely to be defined in terms of legal (DPA) and regulatory (FCA) requirements rather than being driven by the cost of storage!  Saving PDFs under your own direct control is a far safer option than relying on always having access via online banking anyway....

Fingerbobs

eskbanker said:

Saving PDFs under your own direct control is a far safer option than relying on always having access via online banking anyway....

Paper statements are just as safe and are much less of a chore for those of us with multiple accounts. 

eskbanker

Fingerbobs said:

eskbanker said:

Saving PDFs under your own direct control is a far safer option than relying on always having access via online banking anyway....

Paper statements are just as safe and are much less of a chore for those of us with multiple accounts. 

I was responding specifically to your comment about downloading PDFs as an alternative to accessing statements online, rather than revisiting the wider point about preferences for paper!

tenchy

Mentioned earlier by retiredbanker1, but here's some background:

Fears for bank statements as print supplier faces cash crunch (telegraph.co.uk)