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Only 15 percent of community banks support electronic delivery of daily notices. Is your bank here in Jonesboro one of them?

While the adoption of mobile banking is one of 2011’s hottest trends, community banks still lag in offering electronic communications to customers for important account information. In a survey of community banks, SynTel LLC, a provider of document design and mailroom optimization software and services, found that only 15 percent of these institutions currently offer electronic delivery of daily notices.

The poll gauged the adoption of e-delivery of communications among 182 community banks nationwide. When it comes to monthly statements for demand deposit accounts (DDA), 79 percent of the bank reported offering e-delivery, but only 15 percent also offered e-delivery of daily account notices, such as overdraft notifications.

“The adoption of electronic statements is well-accepted among community banks, and the vast majority of consumers have the option of receiving their monthly statements by e-mail or mobile phone,” said Harry Herget, co-founder and director of Marketing for SynTel. “However, community banks still rely on traditional print and mail channels for daily notifications.”

Herget added that the struggle for community banks is in whether to proactively offer these services or wait for the demand to come from customers. The survey found that among those banks that offer any level of e-delivery, only 14 percent sent more than half of their document electronically.

Herget said one surprising result was that 40 percent of the banks surveyed already offered mobile banking, indicating that e-delivery will become more widespread as more customers utilize mobile and online banking offerings. This conclusion is supported by a 2010 report prepared by The Boston Consulting Group for the U.S. Postal Service, that predicted electronic channels will make up 50 percent of bank communications by the year 2020.

“The reality is that today, community banks need to be able to support both print and electronic channels of communication,” Herget said. “They need to consider how they can support electronic channels while at the same time ensuring that printing and mailing notifications is as cost- and time-effective as possible.”

About SynTel, LLC
SynTel, LLC (Jonesboro, Ark.) helps more than 1,400 companies optimize their mailrooms, saving on labor, equipment, supplies and postage costs. The company provides automation tools for the design, printing, packaging and delivery of customer communications to increase productivity and reduce expenses. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.syntelllc.com or follow them on Twitter @SynTelLLC and Facebook.