Who Are the Paperless Holdouts?

Three in four adults, across all generations, switched at least one bill to paperless in 2021, and paperless adoption rates are rising, according to market research conducted by Insider Intelligence. Yet, such on-the-go convenience apparently does not “fit the bill” for everyone.

Some of the resistance may be attributed to three factors:

1. A desire to keep paper records - Many consumers feel more comfortable with the ability to keep hard copy records. Even though they take up space, paper is available without logging into a website, going through two-factor authentication, or answering security questions to do so.
2. The need for a physical reminder - Those bills that come in the postal mail are frequently critical components of an in-home bill-paying workflow. Consumers who switch off paper and miss a notification email can be assessed late fees because they forgot to pay a bill. The stack of unpaid bills on the desk is a safety net against such errors.
3. Data and privacy concerns - Consumers hear about data breaches on the news regularly. They are worried that biller hosted documents contain sensitive information attractive to hackers.

Other factors can play a part in why consumers resist company efforts to convert them to paperless communications, including the inconvenience of logging into dozens of websites and printing or archiving documents themselves. For some consumers, nothing companies have tried so far has swayed them.

Who are these technology non-adopters and what is keeping them from going paperless? A 2023 study by Broadridge gives us some clues:

Generational Attitudes

Preference for paper varies by generation, from 12% of Gen Z and Millennials to 23% of Baby Boomers. In survey responses, consumers also expressed a wish for options that give them a choice for how they can receive their documents.

Though some, mostly older, Americans will never willingly give up paper communications, companies can take advantage of opportunities to convince consumers in all age groups to make the switch. The key is offering something the customers perceive as a better solution than paper, along with all the safeguards and assurances necessary to put them at ease.

Industry Differences

Across the ten industries Broadridge studied, healthcare came in with the lowest percentage of customers who said they preferred digital communication, at 48%. The industries with the highest paperless preference numbers were loans and telecom at 60%.

The study also revealed an opening for companies in healthcare, general insurance, utilities, and health insurance. Between 4% and 6% of consumers in those industries who said they are now receiving paper, would prefer digital. This would seem to be low-hanging fruit if companies can find a more attractive digital option to offer their customers.

Digital Demands

In the recent survey, consumers said they wanted a better digital experience. They want more personalized summary information and specifically noted a desire to cease logging into individual biller websites to get it. The longing for personalized summaries is growing, having risen from 61% in 2021 to 74% in 2023.

Consumers clearly place a high value on access to their bills and statements using methods that deliver a better customer experience. 82% of consumers said they would go paperless if the digital experience was better. This statistic rose 11% from Broadridge’s 2022 study.

An Alternative Approach

Companies can still convert customers from paper to digital, but they have yet to adopt solutions that give consumers everything they want. Organizations have tried all the traditional approaches, including incentives, fees, environmental appeals, convenience, and security.

If nothing changes, it seems the transition to paperless will progress at a slow pace. To speed things up, especially in certain industries, companies must consider offering their customers more options.

Cubby Paperless offers one such possibility.

With Cubby’s web portal, companies can offer a viable alternative that avoids the hassles customers dislike about electronic bill retrieval. Customers can view all their documents from a single, secure Cubby website. They don’t need to remember passwords for dozens of websites just to review their documents.

Cubby’s consolidated site provides issuers of bills, statements, and other notices with a new way to attract the paper delivery holdouts. Companies can offer the Cubby alternative in addition to their current biller-hosted solution at no cost to their customers.