Report card for eStatement adoption: How does your credit union measure up?

Over the 13 years DigitalMailer has provided eStatements to credit unions nationwide, we have seen our clients and their members gain many benefits.

by Ron Daly, DigitalMailer

The most cited advantage relates to real savings credit unions gain on postage and printing costs: one credit union saved $46,464 in 2012 by switching more than 7,500 members from paper to eStatements. And last year, our clients collectively grew their eStatement adoption rates by 20 percent, saving them an additional $780,000.

But eStatements offer bottom-line benefits beyond cost savings. They represent environmentally green practices, and they offer cross-selling opportunities for other products and services. Members benefit from being able to retrieve eStatements at their convenience, as well as increased security and faster delivery.

We’re often asked about an “industry standard” for eStatement penetration: what’s common, what’s realistic, what’s a good target? There’s no single answer; but to offer some perspective to these questions, we compiled statistics from clients about their eStatement adoption rates. This provides a useful benchmark.

Online Banking Users

Almost 80 percent of our clients’ online banking members are eStatements users. And this number has grown significantly – up 20 percent since 2011. That leads us to believe more members are getting comfortable with the idea of online statements, especially among consumers who embrace the convenience and security of online banking.

Checking Account Users

But what about those who aren’t signed up for online banking? A little more than half of all members of DigitalMailer’s clients have checking accounts. And of those, 57.5 percent were signed up for eStatements. While that number shows plenty of room for growth, it also represents a jump of 19 percent over the past year. It appears that growing numbers of members are adapting to the idea of electronic statements and the benefits they bring.

Total Members

We believe the greatest opportunity to grow eStatement adoption comes from comparing those who signed up for eStatements to the total number of clients’ members. Although overall, our clients grew their eStatement users by 11 percent since 2011, these users only total 28 percent of all members. That number should – and can – be much higher.

It’s surprising that some credit unions’ efforts to switch members to electronic statements have netted such a lukewarm response. But digging a little deeper reveals possible reasons:

• Very few credit unions actively push their eStatement programs or encourage members to stop the paper. This is short-sighted, especially given continuing postage hikes, which make the cost savings more significant. Most credit unions have the information needed to deliver online statements, so we recommend working with an eStatement provider to help jumpstart these efforts. Incorporate strategies designed to make it easy for members to change over to eStatements, such as a sign-up link on the website homepage or a one-click enrollment program.

• Many credit unions link electronic statements with online banking, limiting eStatements only to those members. No wonder 80 percent of our clients’ online banking members have eStatements, compared with just 28 percent of their total membership. Why not promote the program to the rest of your members and save the cost and hassles of printed statements?

• Most credit unions don’t make eStatements the default – not even for their online banking users. Reg. E says members must be given a choice between paper and electronic statements – but it doesn’t dictate which choice must be the default. Consider making it eStatements, of course with proper Reg E disclosures and opt-out capabilities. Today’s consumers are leaning more toward all things online; it’s likely that most members would be happy with the change.

We live in a tech-savvy world, so eStatements just make sense. They are a great idea – and offer many benefits – for both credit unions and their members. Take our statistics and compare them with your own eStatement program. You’re likely to find that some simple changes are all it takes to grow your adoption rates.