Senior citizens are the backbone of this country–do not penalize them for not being computer illiterate!! Send them a paper statement and thank them for being Australian
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A paper statement simply costs more to produce, process, and send to your physical address. Why shouldn’t you pay for that service? This isn’t punishment, this is fair.
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We live in a user pays world.
I am getting close to being a senior citizen and I agree that it costs more for paper statements and should be paid for by the users that require it otherwise all other users who get electronic statements will have to pay more.
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My beef is that we no longer get paper statements, letters, plastic bags but those companies haven’t passed on the millions they are saving back to the consumer. Only then would it be fair as user pays, give the pensioners a break!
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My bank keeps reminding me that I can get electronic statements easier than the paper but I need paper statements for our super fund auditor and accountant and you can’t have some electronic and some paper so I have to I stick with paper. They make plenty of money and it’s a cost of them doing business as far as I am concerned.
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Paperless statements or bills are just another step in being pushed to a cashless society, when everyone pays by electronics why do we need cash? Banks will profit from this enormously but will still charge outrageous fees. Yes it does cost to produce a paper bill and no the consumer does not benefit from this reduction in Company overheads and prices do not go down. This whole scenario needs a lot more thinking about, it goes further than fees for paper bills. Think it through Australia.
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If you have a printer you can print the electronic statements you need.
The cost of bills/statements has been built into goods and services since money was invented.
There have never been discounts for receiving electronic bills/statements, just charges imposed for not opting for them. Obviously only one winner there. And the losers? Just the usual … those who can least afford it.
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You highlight the true problem, @sangraeme: corporations are not passing on the savings of more sustainable business practices. For example, the problem is not paying more for paper statements, the problem is that we aren’t paying less for electronic versions.
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When I first setting up a bank account the internet did not exist. A computer, a printer an ISP account all cost me money. The postal service is provided as a community service by the government for which I have paid through my taxes all my working life. The banks are, to mind mind, breaking the social contract they had with me, penalising me for continuing to use the originally agreed process so that they can make even larger profits at my very real expense.
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It’s not the paper statement thing that worries me these days, as we get most of our bills via email, but rather the $2 per bill for not direct debiting that Optus charges us!!!
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Many people print important docs anyway so the excuse by companies etc “to go green” is just to save themselves costs instead of envelopes, stuffing them, printing, postal charges etc
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This is getting ridiculous! Got this email from Coles Mastercard today: "Important changes to your Coles MasterCard
We’re letting you know about some changes to your Coles MasterCard credit contract which will take effect from 3 October 2016.
Changes to fees in your Financial Table
Effective 3 October 2016 your Financial Table is amended as follows:
The fee for receiving a paper statement for your Coles MasterCard will be increasing from $0.50 to $2.00 for each paper statement of account sent to you from 3 October 2016. As usual, no fee will be charged if you receive your statements electronically. To avoid the fee, you can opt out of paper statements by visiting the Coles MasterCard Online Service Centre at colescreditcards.com.au/osc.
The payment handling fee for making payments at Australia Post will increase from $2.00 to $2.25 from 3 October 2016. A payment handling fee of $2.25 will be payable for In Store payments made at Kmart and Target from 3 October 2016. You can continue to pay your account by other methods such as by mail, direct debit or BPAY without incurring a fee.
If you have any questions, or would like more information on the range of Coles MasterCard products please call us on 1300 306 397." Seriously? a 400% increase for statements? Charging you for making a payment? Where will it end? This after Mastercard’s record profits: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mastercards-stock-jumps-after-profit-sales-beat-expectations-2016-07-28
Get the electronic statement and then print it off. Simple!
The postal service is a now a money making business - not a public service.
why would I want to print it when it is provided free?
Australia Post is still owned by the federal government and runs at a loss, so still a public service funded by our taxes.
That are required by government to run as a business. They are a GBE and not a government department. Today they have announced they have made a profit over the last 12 months. They will be expected to do this going forward
For your super fund auditor and accountant, as you mentioned in your post.
And in turn, that saves us.
