Notice Emails
Traditionally, financial institutions have distributed printed notice letters to request account holder information. Unlike notice letters, which are sent through the U.S. Postal Service, notice emails enable electronic communication with customers or members.
Notice Emails vs. Notice Letters: Potential Benefits
Although banks and credit unions still rely heavily on printed letters, email notices offer a number of potential benefits. Examples include:
- Reduced Printing Costs: Preparing notice letters involves printer hardware and software, ink cartridges, mailing envelopes, and reams of paper. There’s also an opportunity cost of printing and stuffing letters into envelopes.
- Postage Costs: A single stamp currently costs $.73. Institutions may qualify for discounted commercial rates, but postage still represents a considerable cost when mailing thousands of notice letters per year.
- Reduced Reliance on the Mail Service: The U.S. Postal Service is generally considered reliable, but sometimes items go missing. Sending notices via email lessens the potential for lost mail.
- Reduced Risk of Overlooked and Misplaced Documents: Mail can quickly pile up at an account holder’s home or office. Items at the bottom of a stack may not receive the attention they deserve.
- Improved Visibility and Tracking: Requesting a proof of delivery for every notice letter isn’t feasible for most financial institutions. By contrast, tracking whether an email was sent and delivered is relatively straightforward.
- Increased Impact for Document Portals: Some financial institutions use online portals, allowing customers or members to securely upload digital versions of documents. Including a document portal link in a notice email increases visibility for the bank or credit union’s portal.
- Convenient Experience for Account Holders: Some people prefer to receive and store digital copies of their tax documents, financial statements, and other records. Using email to request documentation makes life easier for these account holders.
Leveraging Notice Emails
Few barriers exist for sending email notices to customers or members. However, doing so manually could involve considerable administrative work (copy and paste), opening the door to oversights. Using an ECM (enterprise content management) system with built-in notice capabilities provides a more scalable approach. For example, Alogent’s AccuAccount software offers an intuitive workflow for tracking exceptions and generating notices—including email notices. Contact us to request a demo.
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