Our Case

All Consumers

  • 50% of consumers are more likely to pay attention to a bill if it comes in the post
  • 72% of consumers say it is helpful (and 32% say it is essential) to receive letters
  • 30% say it would be harder to manage their finances without letters
  • 76% believe they should have the right to choose (74% is the EU average across 10 countries)
  • 54% believe they should not be charged more for choosing paper
  • 41% believe that paper is better for record keeping
  • 83% want to choose between mail and email
  • 42% were encouraged to go paperless (half with incentive) but only 24% did
  • 57% say they are less likely to miss something if it comes physically

RIP OFF?

A typical bill or statement costs 30–45p to print and post.

Consumers are typically charged £1.67 but it can be as much as £3.

Printing off at home is less environmentally friendly and does not provide you with a legal document.

Vulnerable Consumers

  • 4.5 million adults have never used the internet
  • This number is disproportionately made up of vulnerable groups, including the elderly, disabled and those living in poverty or rural areas
  • 20% of disabled adults have never used the internet
  • Only 6% of households have no broadband access but it’s 18% of over 65s, 11% of lower income households and 10% of the most financially vulnerable
  • Those in debt are less likely to have personal access to the internet: ​
    • 1 in 5 had no access either through a home computer or smartphone​
    • 1 in 10 only had access via a smartphone
  • ​46% of those living with mental health issues reported finding it difficult or very difficult to login to their essential service accounts when unwell
  • 70% of those living with mental health issues reported finding it difficult or very difficult to identify key pieces of information on a bill or statement

BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE & NEUROSCIENCE

IN A SPLIT RUN TEST WITH 3000 CONSUMERS IN UK…

  • 82% who received a paper statement remembered it accurately

  • 32% who received an online statement remembered it accurately

  • 75% who received a paper statement assessed it accurately

  • 48% who received an on line statement assessed it accurately


IN A STUDY IN CANADA…

  • paper required 21% less cognitive effort to understand

  • motivational response is 20% higher with paper than digital


BRITISH STUDIES ALSO SHOWED…

  • 65% are distracted when looking a something on screen versus 21% on paper

  • 49% increase in activation of the brain responsible for long term memory encoding

  • consumers valued something they could see and touch, 24% more highly than something they could only see