Brits hang onto old bills
Most people store financial documents for at least two years with only a fifth of people throwing their bills away within a year, according to HSBC's Green Survey.Coinciding with the launch of HSBC's green banking options, the poll has revealed that although 85 per cent of people would like to reduce the amount of paper they have at home, 82 per cent of people hang onto bills for utilities, credit cards and council tax. Some 80 per cent of people also keep hold of financial communications such as bank statements.While only 21 per cent of Brits discard their bills within a year, 42 per cent of people keep them for one to two years. Some 33 per cent of people hang on to bills for at least three years. Communications and items sent from the bank, such as statements and paying-in books, are also kept by 49 per cent of people for more than three years after their receipt.People held onto bills and bank paperwork in case they were needed for future reference. Mike Oliver, head of current accounts at HSBC, said: "It's clear from our research that as a nation we are keen to 'go green', but we’re finding it hard to detach ourselves from paper. We only occasionally re-use or refer back to the paperwork we keep, yet we just can't bring ourselves to get rid of it on a regular basis."At HSBC from July 2nd, we are launching a range of green options to give customers the opportunity to go largely paper-free with their current account. If they want to do their bit for the environment, they can say goodbye to monthly paper statements, cheque books, paying-in books, letters and paper marketing material."
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