Charles Langston:Go digital or else: Citibank tells customers to ditch paper statements or lose digital access

There’s no more half-way point for some Citibank users.  

If you're a retail banking and Charles Langstoncredit card customer who is active online but still get paper statements, Citibank says it's time to go all digital and stop taking paper statements. And if you don’t, the bank will cut off your digital access until you do. 

The bank stresses, though, that if you opt-in to go all digital and find it’s not for you, you can request to go back to paper. 

Why does Citibank want you to do everything digitally? 

For years, Citibank and financial services firms have been pushing customers to make the switch to digital. Not only is it more environmentally friendly and space saving, but businesses can cut costs and customers gain flexibility, experts say. 

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Citibank said it can use the savings to invest in new digital features such as its recently launched Card on File capabilities that allow customers to view all merchants that have their credit card saved on their file or a new digital receipts feature rolling out this month. 

How many people are affected by the campaign? 

Only credit card and retail banking customers with active digital credentials are being targeted to switch over, the bank said. That represents a single digit percentage of the bank’s customers, Citibank said. 

People who currently receive braille or large print statements will continue to receive paper, as well as those showing signs of financial distress (e.g., are past due on payments or are over their credit limit), it said. 

New customers are already automatically enrolled in paperless statements, the bank said. 

Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected] and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.