Going paperless

In message , Reentrant writes

That last paragraph asks the question I would like answered before I switch to a "paper-less" account with any bank or utility company.

check the fine print of your bank's offer. NatWest, for example, offer:

"Receive 3 months worth of paper statements free of charge - if required as proof of identity or income"

Job done.

Do they offer this 4 times a year?

The answer to the last para is no, they won't accept screen prints or photocopies or any other thing that is not an original on their headed paper, unless you take the print to a branch and ask them to certify it as accurate.

I don't know the answers to the other questions.

Rob Graham

I don't know about other banks and BSs but Nationwide provide statements as a PDF file. So if asked to produce a statement you could either print it off or put it onto a memory stick. Since it IS the ACTUAL statement itself it should be acceptable.

I don't know about other banks and BSs but Nationwide provide statements as a PDF file. So if asked to produce a statement you could either print it off or put it onto a memory stick. Since it IS the ACTUAL statement itself it should be acceptable.

Yes, but long do you have to wait for them to be produced and sent to you?

I wouldn't like to guarantee that some villain or other couldn't find a way of de-PDF-ing it, editing it and re-PDF-ing it.

Yes

You need to print them

No they don't. And that's why I never accept paperless billing.

It generally isn't acceptable.

PDF files can be edited. They are not designed with editing in mind, but they are also not designed to be impossible to edit. Adobe Illustrator can edit them, as can the full version of Adobe Acrobat.

I've no idea as I've not had cause to ask for paper. If it matters that much to you ask them.

I do have a very good idea how happy I'll be when they introduce charges for those who want to stick with paper statements. It's "quite".

But genuine documents can also be scanned, edited and re-printed. So what's the difference?

They may look the same to the unaided eye, but you wouldn't be printing them on the original type paper, or are you used to printing banknotes when you're short?

Rob

.... but (for example) utility bills are hardly likely to be on particularly special paper, it would be pretty trivial to reproduce or copy them.

That's not particularly difficult, if you don't mind hand editing PostScript.

If they have any sense, they will digitally sign the PDF. On the other hand, UK banks have not shown a lot of common sense with regard to digital authentication.

And if you are being audited for tax purposes?

3 months is not very useful, the revenue might require 6 years

tim

Is this something new? I ask because HMRC might indeed require

*records* for 6 years but never used to require the keeping of original bank statements. After all, bank statements are not business documents as such (and you should have a separate certificate of interest and tax deducted).

didn't they? (I don't really know the answer.)

And what if they want to follow the trail of some money that you said you won on the horses?

tim

If you sent in a utility bill that was a document copied and printed to look like the original and later there was an investigation against you for money laundering and it was found that the utility bill had been printed on paper other than that which was normally used by the billing company, the bank that had accepted it would be picked up and shot, so they won't accept it in the first place (assuming they can tell that it's not original).

Rob