Pay online or pay for being billed

Big companies are trying to get their customers out of the habit of receiving a paper bill. Online billing saves them money, but so far, they haven't been able to break a very old habit. T-Mobile got tough this year after offering to plant a tree for every customer who signed up for paperless billing. That didn't work as well as it had hoped.

So instead of rewarding its customers for going paperless, it started charging a $1.50 monthly fee for all accounts that continued to receive a paper bill. Prior to imposing the charge in August, T-Mobile had an average of 1,000 customers signing up for paperless billing every day. When the $1.50 fee was added to the bills, customers got the idea and more than 33,000 a day were signing up for online bills. At this rate, T-Mobile expects to convert its entire 16.5 million invoices each month to online bills in 16 months.

Not to be outdone, Verizon Communications is working toward an online system, too. It's running a "Get Your Green On" contest for paperless billing with a Toyota Prius Hybrid as the grand prize.

Going green is hip, and now going paperless is, too.

For more on paperless billing:
- check out this New York Times article

Related Articles:
The paperless office remains elusive
Government wastes $440 million on printing