International banking giant HSBC and its online subsidiary First Direct have launched a new program, known as the Virtual Forest, in a bid to cut paper usage for the benefit of the environment.
Customers of both HSBC and First Direct who choose to switch off from receiving paper statements will be helping to plant more than 20,000 trees as part of the new program.
The Virtual Forest is a GBP112,500 co-sponsorship of Trees for Cities, an independent charity that works with local communities on tree planting projects, community education and training initiatives in urban areas.
All First Direct and HSBC customers who have registered for personal internet banking have the option to stop receiving their monthly current account statements through the post. HSBC customers can also turn off their quarterly savings account and twice-yearly mortgage account statements and view them online instead.
As part of the program, for every customer switching off from paper, the two banks will plant one tree in the online Virtual Forest. For every 20 virtual trees, Trees for Cities will plant one real tree in locations across the UK. The program will plant up to 22,500 trees in total.
Over one million HSBC and First Direct customers have already stopped receiving statements and are saving more than 13 million pieces of paper and around seven million envelopes a year.
Joe Garner, general manager of personal financial services for HSBC and First Direct, said: We have been offering customers the opportunity to turn off their paper statements for three years. This year we are increasing our drive to cut down on paper use through programs such as Trees for Cities and other initiatives, such as a 50p donation to the WWF for the first 100,000 customers who registered for HSBC internet banking during our HSBC Green Sale in January.