Print advocate Two Sides Australia has criticised the Commonwealth Bank after it revealed plans to start charging customers with fees for mailing paper statements.
The CBA is the first of Australia’s big four banks to hit account holders with monetary penalties for choosing traditional paper correspondence.
CBA customers who receive their monthly account statements in the mail are set to be slugged with a $2.50 fee per month, and if account holders opt for more regular statements they will be charged further.
Executive director of Two Sides Australia Kellie Northwood says the fees cannot be justified with Australia post price hikes, and warns it may disaffect older customers.
“Firstly, it shows a complete lack of regard for consumer preferences, second the fee being charged is above and beyond the cost of Australia Post price increases and thirdly it alienates entire consumer groups across Australia,” says Northwood.
Northwood also says the costs of mailing statements is far less than electronic correspondence, and argues consumers tend to understand printed communication far better than online.
“Our studies further show that the hidden cost of electronic billing and statements is higher for companies than printed statements. The Natur-Energi study showed E-billing cost the company $6.21 to produce the invoice, process and follow up payment whereas direct mail (printed invoice) cost the company $3.51 in production and processing costs,” she says.
“The reality is consumers respond in a more timely manner and pay their bills quicker when receiving physical communications. Companies making decisions like CBA simply have not done the numbers.”
CBA notified customers starting April 1 they ‘may’ be charged a small payment each time they are mailed paper statements, and have the choice to opt out from hard-copy correspondence.
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Northwood says the decision to implement fees for printed statements will result in a downturn in customer interaction with any CBA communication.
“The research in regards to consumer comprehension on paper statements is wide-reaching and all with a common finding, paper statements are better for consumer and company,” says Northwood.
“A study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) found over half of consumers who opted for electronic credit card statements are not opening or reviewing these statements and concluded that consumers who are ‘opt-outs’ are for the most part opting out of reviewing their statements entirely.
“Yet again the paper is being targeted by decision makers who are not armed with correct information,” concluded Northwood.
The introduction of paper fees comes soon after CBA logged a record $4.8bn profit for the half-year leading up to December 31, 2015.
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