A good sized player in the 401k market sent this letter to my co-worker in July 2018. Actual language:
"What is happening? In an effort to add extra security to the handling of your private information, your quarterly statement will be available going forward in electronic format only. Switching to electronic transmission of these statements allows us to become more digitally based and environmentally conscious with our paper usage, and provides quicker access to past statements.
What does this mean to you? You will receive a notification to the email address saved in your profile whenever your new quarterly benefit statement is available online. This notification will contain a link to the login page of your account. Please note that if you were already receiving your statements online, there is no charge, and that electronic delivery does
not automatically apply to any other plan information, which you have the right to receive in writing. If you are interested in receiving other plan communications electronically, please follow the instructions found in the e-documents section of your account. There, you can select all of your other paperless preferences.
What actions should you take? We strongly encourage you to visit the plan's website at...., where you can view, print, or download your current and past statements, utilize insightful reports and financial tools in addition to seeing your other important account information. To ensure the statement notification goes to the correct address, please take a moment to log into your account and view the account summary to verify that your preferred email is saved to your profile. If you have any questions or concerns, or would like a paper copy of your
quarterly statements, do not hesitate to contact one of your plan's Customer Care Representatives at ... "
Electronic format only? Anyone else doing electronic format only? I'm aware of participants being able to request electronic format only, but a full plan level change to it? It's like a negative election quarterly statement if you want paper. FAB 2006-03A mentions that paper statements can be requested free of charge; this provider is still offering paper, but you're going to have to work to get it. I'm surprised, and yet, not surprised by this action. Figured we would end up there anyway. Any thoughts on this?