New Survey Finds Consumers Are Willing to Give Up Chocolate or Alcohol for One Month to Stop Receiving Paper Mail

NEW YORK, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A survey conducted by Inlet, a technology platform that enables companies to securely deliver digital documents across multiple online consumer destinations, found that consumers are increasingly comfortable using cloud storage sites as a place to store their life's most important records – and that many can see themselves living without paper bills and statements.

The Inlet survey asked U.S. consumers about their daily online habits and found that most prefer digital in all aspects of their lives. The increased demand for digital has put a larger spotlight on the uncovered opportunities for banks, in particular, to improve on customer experience and take advantage of the trust consumers already place in them; especially when it comes to emerging technology such as mobile banking and the path toward AI-enabled processes.

Today, providers such as insurance companies, credit card companies and utilities have the ability to become further embedded in the daily lives of consumers by engaging and communicating through their preferred digital channels. By developing and maintaining meaningful relationships with customers, companies are allowed more room for innovation and can continue to elevate their overall experience –furthering loyalty and upsell opportunities.

Highlights from the survey include:

• Chocolate and drinking were the two most popular things people would be willing to give up for one month to stop receiving all paper mail. With so many daily habits controlled digitally, the household chore of paying bills and organizing documents is still a pain point for consumers. Companies need to alleviate this pain by making it easier to go paperless and access documents via the channels their customers prefer to use. 
• More than 50 percent of respondents are comfortable storing their most important documents in the cloud with photos being the number one item, followed by financial statements and bills. Taking note from photo sharing platforms like Facebook and Snapchat, bill providers can build on consumers' comfort with storing photos on the cloud to explain why their other personal information is also safe there.
• Roughly half (48.2 percent) of respondents said they would never trust Alexa, Siri or another AI-enabled assistant to pay bills on their behalf. While these findings make it seem like AI has a long way to go to become a true digital assistant for the everyday consumer, comfort levels with this tool will increase as companies continue to educate their customers about the benefits AI provides, such as increased organization.
• Survey respondents feel more comfortable logging in to a bank's app by typing the password versus using touch ID (34.5 percent vs. 23.8 percent) and over a third of consumers don't access their bank account information on their mobile devices in public areas. Skepticism around mobile banking and passwords is still prevalent among consumers today, which is why financial institutions need to take steps to educate consumers about security.

"For companies and consumers, the cloud has moved beyond being just an abstract concept and now has the capability to change how people work and live," said Chuck Cordray, CEO of Inlet. "As consumers continue to adopt a digital-first lifestyle, there's a significant opportunity and untapped potential for companies to evolve into more advisory roles when it comes to educating audiences about trusting and working with cloud to harness its full potential." 

Cordray added, "Inlet's role is to take the resource burden away from providers and enable them to efficiently and safely deliver eBills and statements to major destinations such as Google Drive, Amazon Drive and more than 6,500 banks and credit unions across the country."

About the Survey

Inlet commissioned SHIFT Communications to survey U.S. online consumers through Google Surveys about consumer cloud behaviors. The survey was completed by 1,514 respondents with a 95% confidence level. The survey was weighted against the U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey for age, gender, and region of the United States to be representative of the population. Inlet was the sole investor in the survey. The survey period was March 24, 2017 – March 26, 2017. Data is available upon request.

About Inlet

Inlet is a secure digital document delivery platform which exclusively connects companies to consumers via major personal cloud storage sites and thousands of financial institutions. Through a single integration, companies can send eBills, statements and other important documents to the online destinations their customers visit and trust the most. These destinations include Amazon Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive* and Evernote in addition to 6,500 bank and credit union websites across the country. Inlet increases customer engagement, paperless adoption rates and enables faster payments. To learn more about Inlet, a joint venture between Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR) and Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI), visit www.InletDigital.com.

Contact:
Lolita Verny-Acosta
Inlet
203-898-3697
[email protected]

Mary McGuire
SHIFT Communications
646-756-3709
[email protected]

*Google Drive delivery launches on June 30, 2017

SOURCE Inlet

Related Links

http://www.InletDigital.com