There’s an incredible push to go paperless with financial statements. Credit card companies, banks, insurance firms, financial consultants, hospitals and medical services, and more continue to send communications promoting going paperless. They come across as being eco-friendly and economical. However, they are not user-friendly or financially safe. Both reality and wisdom say that there’s safety in paper.

First, of course, to go paperless assumes everyone is connected to the Internet or is available and capable of using it. The fact is that many, whether for financial reasons, mental cognizance, or lack of access, are not connected to the internet and need to receive paper statements showing what they owe (or how their finances stand) to meet their financial obligations in a timely manner to avoid expensive late fees.

Image created using Freepik AI.

Those who are technically equipped to operate paperless without any difficulty—and that is true for most Americans—forget that it is not true for all Americans. There are people who are unable to afford either the equipment or the necessary subscriptions required to meet financial obligations online. They deserve acknowledgment and sympathy. To force them to become paperless would push them into the underserved category.

Furthermore, electric grids are not trustworthy. Weather and potential terrorist attacks can prevent or delay access, resulting in problems. Weather conditions across the nation have previously and seriously affected either access or timely access required for meeting obligations when it comes to paying bills or learning about problems with an account. As the U.S. currently has enemies both internally and externally, electric grids are vulnerable to conceivable future attacks.

People may also be separated from technical access by hospitalizations, medical incapacities, computer crashes that delete all their financial information, or having no one to act on their behalf to access that information online. For example, when someone becomes ill, while friends and family can continue to get their mail, access to that person’s internet world may end.

I am not speaking in the abstract. As one of a certain age living in a retirement community of aging adults, I’ve observed many who no longer possess computers and are no longer technically savvy enough to handle such obligations without paper statements. Observing this, I wonder myself how long I’ll be mentally cognizant enough to handle financial affairs online. This represents a large portion of the population. Increasingly poor health or medical issues, as well as dementia, take their toll on abilities and capabilities. Many in the elderly phase of life will be seriously affected.

When and if death comes suddenly, important records are more easily accessible for those left behind to navigate one’s financial affairs and handle them more effortlessly and definitively. For those who cannot afford the opportunity or who are losing the ability to navigate the opportunity, paper backup remains a steadfast friend.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, “The Social Security Administration is cutting staff, restricting what recipients can do over the phone and closing some local field offices that help people in person.” This, too, will add to the number of underserved citizens.

There’s no doubt we are blessed with great technology and its gift of incredible opportunities. Sadly, however, untold numbers cannot benefit from the technology. Therefore, there is wisdom in keeping paper statements, records, and files.

For ages, businesses provided paper statements. We must encourage them to continue and not intimidate those needing paper statements. To go paperless may be to go senseless, considering all the difficulties that prevent or threaten millions from using online technology.