An alarming new practice has appeared in the credit card industry recently, wherein some customers who prefer paper statements are being charged extra. Synchrony Bank, which manages card programs for a good number of retail chains, is one of the leading adopters of this policy. The users of Sam’s Club, Lowe’s and Amazon Store Card, uncommon as they may be, are getting charged for a paper statement of $1.99 per month, pressuring them to go paperless.
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Being required to go paperless
Such developments in e-billing have been witnessed in many other institutions as well. For instance, Citibank has made it a necessity for its customers to go paperless whenever they want to open an account online. Even though there is no law at the federal level to prevent the giving of paper statements as long as one might wish to, credit card companies cannot make such a switch without your consent.
The move has sparked frustration, particularly among those who aren’t comfortable with online banking. Many users, like Alicia Galowitsch, rely on paper statements to manage their finances. She expressed concerns that without physical statements, payments might be missed. Other consumers have raised issues around data breaches and the challenges that low-income or less tech-savvy users face when forced into digital banking.
Several credit card holders have voiced their dissatisfaction on social media platforms like Reddit. One user, who has a PayPal Mastercard, mentioned receiving a notice that starting in April, they would be charged a $2.50 fee for continuing to use paper statements. Some customers have even decided to close their accounts to avoid the fees, citing the charge as unreasonable.
Changes to Visa and American Express
This modification is part of a larger trend in the transformation of reward systems by credit card companies. Moreover, even Visa and American Express have made some minor changes that have affected the value of redeemable reward points. Since 2018, the credit card points that were previously valued at roughly 1 cent have depreciated in value by nearly 20% based on inflation, mostly. This depreciation means that not all points that have been earned by a customer holder will be translated into equivalent monetary benefits as it was before hence this is causing increasingly more displeasure with the customers who hold the cards.
For people who fear becoming a victim of identity theft, experts recommend not letting their guard down. Some classic symptoms of card fraud include unauthorized transactions, strange requests for a person’s credit report, or unexplained sharp drops in one’s credit score. Resuming healthy habits and learning how to control your accounts as well as these signs of trouble can help in avoiding serious losses.
As the push for digital statements continues, some banks are offering waivers or assistance for customers who genuinely need paper statements due to specific circumstances. If you find yourself facing these fees, it’s worth contacting your credit card provider to see if they can make exceptions or help you transition smoothly to digital alternatives.
This shift underscores the financial industry’s ongoing move toward electronic services, which may benefit some users but poses challenges for others, particularly those less comfortable with technology.
