6 Reasons to Enroll in eStatements
As email has virtually replaced “snail mail” (except for the constant onslaught of junk mail and bills), eStatements are here to take over prehistoric paper statements. A financial statement is a documented monthly history of all your spending and savings. Usually, these are sent through the mail and out of date by the time they reach your mailbox. With eStatements, this documentation is available online. Here are the top 6 reasons you should enroll in eStatements with your local credit union.
1. Security
Everyone’s experienced it at least once; when your mail doesn’t reach your mailbox and is lost to the mail “void”, never to be found again. It’s rare, but it does happen. You definitely don’t want your paper statement, which holds personal information about yourself and your financial situation, to be lost or intercepted. This puts you at risk for identity theft.
Instead, eStatements offer more security since they can only be accessed through your online account portal.
2. Get it when it's ready!
Once your paper statement is ready, it still needs to go through the process of being folded, stuffed in an envelope, and stamped. Then it takes 5-7 business days to make it to your mailbox. Wouldn’t it be great if you had access immediately? Once an eStatement is uploaded, oftentimes a credit union will send out an email or text notification letting you know it’s ready. This saves you time you didn’t realize you were missing out on!
3. Access 24/7
With a paper statement, you have to find a place to keep it if you want to reference it at a later date. An eStatement is safely and securely stored in your online account portal and is available whenever you need it. Oftentimes, you can go back as far as you’ve had the account to look up previous statements. This comes in handy when you’re applying for a mortgage and need to produce at least the last three months of statements. Simply log into your account, find where your statements are stored, and download the ones you need.
4. Say goodbye to shredding & filing
To reference your paper statements whenever you want, you have to keep them. That means finding space in your home to file them away. Then after a certain point, to make space for the new ones, you have to shred the old ones. If you don’t have a shredder on hand, then you have to wait for your community’s next “Shread Day” to securely and safely dispose of the documents.
Save yourself the hassle and just say goodbye to paper statements.
5. Save the trees!
Switching to eStatements is environmentally friendly and reduces your carbon footprint. Less printed paper means fewer trees that need to be cut down. Choosing eStatements is the greener way to obtain your financial statements.
6. It's FREE
Everyone’s favorite price: FREE. It doesn’t cost anything extra to opt into eStatements. Some banks and credit unions have to charge a fee to receive paper statements due to the cost and resources. For eStatements, you don’t have this issue. Instead, it should, in theory, save your credit union money which they’ll be able to reinvest into their products and interest rates.
Most credit unions offer eStatements as choice to their members. If you’re ready for the convenience of 24/7 online access to your statements, then ask your credit union how to enroll today.