By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-10-22 01:35:37 | Updated at 2024-10-22 03:33:54
2 hours ago
Customers of credit cards from a raft of big retailers must pay $1.99 if they still want to receive a paper statement.
Synchrony Bank, which provides dozens of co-branded cards for companies from Amazon to Walgreens, has been rolling out the fee in recent months.
The charge also affects cards the bank provides for American Eagle, Dick's, J Crew, JCPenney, Lowe's, PayPal, Sam's Club, Venmo and Verizon.
While there's no laws banning paper statement fees, companies must get customers' permission before switching them to digital billing.
For many Americans, digital statements are unwelcome - some seniors may feel uncomfortable with technology, while others prefer printed statements to manage their finances.
Synchrony Bank, which provides dozens of co-branded cards for companies from Amazon to Walgreens, has been rolling outa $1.99 fee for customers who want paper statements
Business professor Elaine Luther from Point Park University warned on Boston 25 that online statements and payments can expose users to potential data breaches.
She also pointed out that low-income consumers may struggle with digital payment systems.
For example, Alicia Galowitsch and her husband Mark are on a fixed income and meticulously track their budget.
'It's very tight to where we had to start going to a food bank,' Ms Galowitsch told NBC Los Angeles.
The couple, who live in Palmdale, has six credit cards with Synchrony Bank and were recently told they would need to pay the $1.99 fee for each.
'That's going to add up to $11.94,' Ms. Galowitsch explained.
She emphasizes the importance of paper statements for keeping their finances organized, particularly when she's not at home. '
'If I'm not here, the payments are going to be late because Mark's not going to know what to do. With paper statements, everything is written down for him,' she noted.
Frustrated, Galowitsch reached out to Synchrony to request a waiver for the fees, especially since she pays the bank around $450 a month in interest.
'You make enough money on interest, why charge something else?' she asked.
However, the bank remained firm. 'All they said was that's what they decided to do. No ifs, ands, or buts,' she said.
Synchrony Bank waived the paper statement fees indefinitely for the Galowitschs after NBC contacted the company.
The bank said it had exclusions in place to accommodate those with various special situations.
Chi Chi Wu, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center, argues that charging consumers for paper statements is unjust
'That's one of the worst consequences, frankly, of online-only statements,' she told NBC.
'People just overlook the email that tells you you've got a statement. (They) don't open it up, don't go to the website, or maybe they forgot their password, and they miss a payment. Now you've got to pay a late fee,' she said.
Reddit threads have also been growing as customers discuss the $1.99 fee.
'Closing my account,' one user wrote on a thread titled: Synchrony to begin charging for paper statements,
'Also they hiked the rate to almost 32%. Not that I carry a balance, but the greed of this company is astounding.-
Meanwhile, a recent report showed how the value of credit card reward points has been gradually falling - as inflation has taken hold.
The conversion rate for points changes when you transfer them out of the bank's portal and into a frequent flier or other points program
Inflation starts to bite into the value of points if users redeem them directly through a bank's portal or online app
A point redeemed through online banking has long been worth around one cent.
But one cent has lost around 20 percent of its purchasing power since 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This means a point has also fallen in value by about the same amount, according to The Wall Street Journal.
If you built up 50,000 points with a major credit card issuer in 2020 and still have not spent them, they are now worth about 41,300, according to the outlet.
