they did this with me too, but only for a few months after i signed up for the paperless statements. after a few reminders, they stop. i think its just a safeguard to remind you that you have selected online statements and dont miss a payment.

If it's a reminder, that sure is nice of them. I thought they WANT you to miss payments so they can increase your APR and charge you a nice late fee?

I wonder if they have heard of email....

Ditto on what SNAZZ said -- beyond that imagine if someone took over Corey's account online, selected paperless statements, and then started charging on his account.

Then Corey would be writing The Consumerist to let us know how Citibank didn't let him know that his account had gone paperless and he had no idea all these charges were being made to his account. ;)

citiCbank?

I got the same thing for about 4 months after I did this. It has stopped though. I guess its probably something to cover their own butts in case someone somehow hacked an account and signed up for it (probably for ID theft or something). Still, they do not tell you that they are going to do this.

I also got the same thing for my Federal Student loan once I signed up for auto debit and paperless statements

had it too. it's temporary. one of their safe guards.

I get this every single month. It has not stopped; it's been happening every month like clockwork for all of 2007.

It's really annoying.

WAMU sends me a letter every month to let me know that I didn't read their email that informs me of my electronic statement. I expect they use a tracking image in their emails and are checking to see whether the email was ever opened. Assuming I actually ever open one of the messages and don't just mark it read (the subject line is "Your Statement Is Ready"), Gmail automatically blocks their tracking images anyway.

I had the same thing happen to me. Every once in a while though, they send me the letter. I got one the other day as a matter of fact. I don't know what causes them to send them some months and not others.

Citi sends me a balance transfer offer at least once a week. Once twice in a day. I hoped that going "paperless" would end mail from them, it didn't.

Not only do I get a paper letter from Citi to let me know that my paperless statement is available online, but that letter includes my complete account number each time. (Not XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-1234)

I've called a couple of times to politely complain and ask to stop receiving this letter--my main reason for paperless statements is security and clutter reduction--so this letter defeats the purpose. I got the letter to stop for a while, but it recently started again and I haven't bothered to call back.

You'd be surprised how many people sign up for paperless and "forget" to check for a bill. This is honestly a courtesy. People forget all the time and find out at the worst times possible, ie applying for a loan.

Not only is it "Citibank" not "Citicbank" but they don't refer to their credit card division as Citibank. They call themselves Citi Cards.

On the plus side, the reminder very likely uses less than 1/4 of what it would in a normal paper statement.

Is it possible that you didnt give them your email address so they can notify you when your statement is ready? Because they email me when mine is.

@krcasey:

Pretty much the same story here. I got them to stop for awhile after expressing my concerns about the entire card number being printed on the reminder. They had to transfer me to the "security department" to get even this much done.

@forgottenpassword: I've been getting both. To be clear, I don't receive a paper statement. I receive a paper letter--that includes a complete, visible account number--to let me know that my paperless statement is available online. I also get an email notification.

@randotheking: @randotheking: No, it is not a courtesy.

Citicards is the Keystone Credit Card Company (for those of you old enough to remember the Keystone Kops).

I just signed up for paperless w/ my phone company a couple months ago and now they send me an email AND a paper bill. Go figure!

I still continue to get those mailed statements saying this is part of your paperless billing program, and yes it has my information on it, which is why I chose paperless billing in the first place.
Also, for the guys saying that this is nice because people forget to login online after they've chosen paperless billing. You can't hold everybody's hand all the time - if they choose to enroll in the paperless program it gives you warnings so they should be responsible enough to remember to pay your bills.

@Vicky: I'd write 'em a letter asking them why exactly they are breaching YOUR security by sniffing whether or not you read their self-important email.

Eloans does this as well. Drives me nuts.

@Eric1985: I used to get those balance transfer offers several times a week from Citibank and it was such a waste of paper. I called and asked them to stop and they did, though it took a couple months.