Going paperless can prevent fees from banks, lenders

Get ready for more incentives from bankers, lenders and others to persuade you to give up on paper and start using online accounts.

While it's obvious the people who send you paper statements save money if you do your banking and bill paying online, it's possible for consumers to share in the wealth, too. All sorts of incentives, or deals, are out there.

If you're paying off student loans, for example, Sallie Mae offers a 0.25 percentage-point interest-rate reduction for customers who sign up for automated monthly deductions from a debit account.

This could initially amount to a savings of about $3 a month for a student with $15,000 in loans at an interest rate of 6.8 percent.

The monthly payment of nearly $173 a month wouldn't change because the savings would be applied to the principal.

In this example, the borrower would save more than $300 in 10 years.

Bank of America recently rolled out its eBanking checking account, which drives customers to do most of their banking via mobile phone, ATM or the Internet.

Customers who opt for this account can make deposits and withdrawals electronically without a monthly fee or minimum balance.

The kicker: Customers with this account who do not sign up to receive statements via e-mail and online will pay a fee of $8.95 a month.

The push to save green by going green — and dispensing with postage and paper — doesn't stop there.

Effective Sept. 30, the U.S. Department of Treasury is ending the sale of paper U.S. Savings Bonds for all federal employees who buy them through payroll deduction.

For workers outside the federal government, the paper savings bonds end Jan. 1.

If you want to keep buying bonds through work, you'll need to set up an online account at www.treasurydirect.gov.

The banking industry also would like consumers to use online services to monitor their own accounts as a way to help prevent cyberfraud.

"One of the big benefits to me from a convenience standpoint is that I can check my accounts frequently," said Michael Benardo, chief of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s cyberfraud and financial-crimes section.

"The more frequently you check your accounts, the better off you'll be at managing your money and protecting yourself against account fraud," Benardo said.

"The most effective way for banks and customers to protect the Internet environment is for us to work together," said Doug Johnson, the American Bankers Association's vice president of risk-management policy.

"Everyone has to be cognizant of the fact that there are threats out there."

Increasingly, we're likely to see electronic banking options that go beyond just using a personal computer.

"You'll see more banks coming out with mobile banking," said Mark Schwanhausser, senior analyst, multichannel financial services for Javelin Strategy & Research in Pleasanton, Calif.

About half of households — or 43 million — now pay bills online through their banks and credit unions each month, according to Javelin Strategy.

He said some consumers will find they are not only saving fees by ditching paper, but are better able to watch their overall spending when they regularly view their banking accounts online.