Finance

Credit card companies now charging extra fees for paper statements

Published

8 months ago

October 22, 2024

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A new push to move credit card users to a digital statement will now come with a penalty for those who don’t want to comply.

Credit card companies from big name retailers have been silently rolling out a fee of $1.99 if you wish to keep receiving paper statements.

One of the biggest offenders is Synchrony Bank, and they have co-branded and store-affiliated credit cards with over 100 cards in their lineup, which include Sam’s Club® Credit Card, the Lowe’s Store Card, and the Amazon Store Card.

In November of last year, Citibank released new guidance to its customers saying that going paperless was “now required to access your account on Citi.com and the Citi Mobile App,”

MasterCard and Visa cards are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on March 29, 2024. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

There isn’t a law banning paper statements, however, but permission is required in order to start paperless billing.

In a report to NBC Los Angeles Alicia Galowitsch said that the change started to add up for them. They account for every penny.

“It’s very tight. It’s very tight to where we had to start going to a food bank,” said Ms. Galowitsch. “It’s going to be $11.94,” said Galowitsch.

The couple has a number of credit cards and receive statements to help with organization.

‘If I’m not here, the payments are going to be late because Mark’s not going to know what to do. With paper statements, everything is written down for him,’ she noted.

In this photo illustration, one and five dollar bills seen on display. (Photo Illustration by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Imagehoto Illustration by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images))

Other concerns come with users who are not technologically savvy.

Business professor Elaine Luther from Point Park University says online banking can pose a threat to security.

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Online Reddit users have also been raising concerns regarding the fee.

Person entering credit card details on laptop next to Christmas tree

For its report, WalletHub analyzed almost 5,000 deals from the Black Friday ad scans of 21 of the largest retailers in the U.S. (iStock) (iStock / iStock)

‘I have the Paypal mastercard and got a letter in the mail today. Beginning in April they will start charging if you are not using electronic statements. It is a small fee of $2.50 but still just a heads up if anyone has any cards by them may want to check.’

‘Closing my account, ’one user wrote on a thread titled: Synchrony to begin charging for paper statements,’ they said.

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Finance

Swiss government proposes tough new capital rules in major blow to UBS

Published

1 day ago

June 6, 2025

Business Finance News

A sign in German that reads “part of the UBS group” in Basel on May 5, 2025.

Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images

The Swiss government on Friday proposed strict new capital rules that would require banking giant UBS to hold an additional $26 billion in core capital, following its 2023 takeover of stricken rival Credit Suisse.

The measures would also mean that UBS will need to fully capitalize its foreign units and carry out fewer share buybacks.

“The rise in the going-concern requirement needs to be met with up to USD 26 billion of CET1 capital, to allow the AT1 bond holdings to be reduced by around USD 8 billion,” the government said in a Friday statement, referring to UBS’ holding of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds.

The Swiss National Bank said it supported the measures from the government as they will “significantly strengthen” UBS’ resilience.

“As well as reducing the likelihood of a large systemically important bank such as UBS getting into financial distress, this measure also increases a bank’s room for manoeuvre to stabilise itself in a crisis through its own efforts. This makes it less likely that UBS has to be bailed out by the government in the event of a crisis,” SNB said in a Friday statement.

‘Too big to fail’

UBS has been battling the specter of tighter capital rules since acquiring the country’s second-largest bank at a cut-price following years of strategic errors, mismanagement and scandals at Credit Suisse.

The shock demise of the banking giant also brought Swiss financial regulator FINMA under fire for its perceived scarce supervision of the bank and the ultimate timing of its intervention.

Swiss regulators argue that UBS must have stronger capital requirements to safeguard the national economy and financial system, given the bank’s balance topped $1.7 trillion in 2023, roughly double the projected Swiss economic output of last year. UBS insists it is not “too big to fail” and that the additional capital requirements — set to drain its cash liquidity — will impact the bank’s competitiveness.

At the heart of the standoff are pressing concerns over UBS’ ability to buffer any prospective losses at its foreign units, where it has, until now, had the duty to back 60% of capital with capital at the parent bank.

Higher capital requirements can whittle down a bank’s balance sheet and credit supply by bolstering a lender’s funding costs and choking off their willingness to lend — as well as waning their appetite for risk. For shareholders, of note will be the potential impact on discretionary funds available for distribution, including dividends, share buybacks and bonus payments.

“While winding down Credit Suisse’s legacy businesses should free up capital and reduce costs for UBS, much of these gains could be absorbed by stricter regulatory demands,” Johann Scholtz, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, said in a note preceding the FINMA announcement.

“Such measures may place UBS’s capital requirements well above those faced by rivals in the United States, putting pressure on returns and reducing prospects for narrowing its long-term valuation gap. Even its long-standing premium rating relative to the European banking sector has recently evaporated.”