Scottish Building Society protects right to paper statements for all customers

The Keep Me Posted ‘Best Practice’ Mark of Distinction is awarded to businesses which have made a commitment to provide customers with the option to receive paper bills and statements without the fear of additional charge or penalty.

Over 33,000 members of Scottish Building Society will see their right to receive paper bills and statements, without charge or penalty, protected. The Keep Me Posted campaign calls on more service providers including building societies, banks, utility companies and telecoms providers, to give their customers a choice as to how they are communicated with.

The ’Best Practice’ Mark of Distinction enables customers to recognise a business which has made a commitment to providing its customers with paper bills and statements. Scottish Building Society is the latest name to join a number of utility companies and financial services organisations who have also been awarded ‘Best Practice’ Marks of Distinction including Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and Ulster Bank.

Judith Donovan CBE, Chair of the Keep Me Posted campaign, said: “I am thrilled to be able to award Scottish Building Society with the Keep Me Posted campaign’s ‘Best Practice’ Mark of Distinction, an accolade which demonstrates their commitment to customer service.

“By committing to offer paper bills and statements, Scottish Building Society has ensured that customers retain the right to be communicated with via post should they wish. This is a significant pledge given that we know from our research that consumers who receive financial correspondence by post are much more likely to be able to correctly assess the health of their accounts (75 per cent vs 48 per cent for those who received electronically).* As more and more services move online we cannot ignore the fact that one in ten Scottish people (13%) have not used the internet in the last three months or have never used it.”

Mark Thomson, chief executive at Scottish Building Society, said: “We are delighted to receive this recognition for our commitment to offering our members choice in how they receive their financial information. We know that digital communication is not for everyone, and although we continually invest in operational efficiencies to deliver long term value for our members, we have no intention of removing the option for traditional, paper based, correspondence. It’s what our members want.”