For many years, banks would print and mail monthly bank statements to all customers. For a while now, though, paper bank statements have been replaced by electronic statements, with an eye on what advocates say is greater efficiency.
Some banks will charge a fee for continuing to send paper records and statements, but some are willing to waive that fee for customers who meet certain qualifications, such as age or minimum balances.
“Financial institutions have an obligation to ensure that Americans can utilize the banking services they need,” Turner said in a statement. “For many Americans, online bank statements may not be a viable alternative to paper statements. The PAPER Act would bar financial institutions from restricting services based on a customer’s preference for paper statements, making certain that all Americans can participate in our banking system in a way that works best for them.”
“Rep. Turner’s bill rightly pushes back against banks requiring customers to go fully digital to retain online account access, as seen in Citibank’s pilot program in 2023,” Ed Cates, chairman of the Senior Citizens League, said in Turner’s statement. “This trend risks excluding 20% of U.S. households without internet access and disproportionately affects seniors. We believe that every American should have the right to access their financial records in a format that works for them. The PAPER Act ensures this choice remains available.”
In late 2023, when Turner first introduced an earlier version of the bill, Citibank announced a pilot program forcing customers to relinquish paper statements in order to maintain access to online bank accounts.
“We absolutely endorse his legislation,” Shannon Benton, a spokeswoman for the Senior Citizens League, told the Dayton Daily News.
“There are a lot of rural areas that don’t have Internet,” she added. And many older Americans don’t own computers, she said. Those people continue to depend on paper statements for accurate records of account activity.
She said that to the best of her knowledge, the Citibank program was discontinued.
“This move sparked major backlash, with critics accusing the bank of essentially holding accounts hostage to force compliance,” she said.
A message seeking comment was left with a representative of the American Bankers Association.
In March, President Trump signed an executive order mandating that the federal government shift from paper-based payments to electronic payments.
Effective Sept. 30, the national government is expected to end issuing paper checks for all disbursements, including intragovernmental payments, benefits, vendor payments, and tax refunds.
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