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I've been (almost) 100% paperless for a few years now using EarthClassMail.com. For about $40/month they scan all my paper mail for me (this is a chore I would

I've been (almost) 100% paperless for a few years now using EarthClassMail.com. For about $40/month they scan all my paper mail for me (this is a chore I wouldn't want to do) and I never see a physical piece of mail. - the PDF's are all archived online indefinitely - if you get something physical (new credit card) they can forward it for $2-3 - packages you get shipped to your current address so no forwarding fee - if you move often (as I do) then you can keep the same mailing address indefinitely so you never have to update your mailing address with dozens of different institutions, miss bills, etc (this is a huge hassle removed) Only downsides so far... - the documents aren't OCR'ed - their web interface in clunky, but useable - hand written thank you notes/bday cards just don't carry the same sentimental value looking at a scan online Otherwise I'm pretty happy with it. I started using it while living abroad, but decided to keep it since I've been back in the U.S. - I wouldn't want to go back to opening paper mail.

riobard 15y ago
What about privacy? They read all your mails?
- silencio 15y ago
  If you are worried about that even with their privacy policy, you can have them just forward the mail to you physically without scanning. ECM doesn't scan the contents of your mail by default, only the outside of the envelope/package to OCR and let you identify who it is from. The level of privacy/trust you get is on par with the post office and your mail carrier's.
  - stretchwithme 15y ago
    Yeah, opening mail for you is an additional service. You can have them do it for everything or just what you want to look at. It is done by machine, but you are relying upon their system being honest. Of course, if its ever shown that its not, they'll lose quite a bit of business. Is it a federal offense to look at mail someone has authorized you to open? Not sure about that. So, can't say that the level of trust is as high as it would be with the post office. Of course, the post office is much more likely to give your mail to the wrong people, so may not be as save anyway.
silencio 15y ago
I have ECM for the package pickups from street addresses specifically, as I cannot rely on anybody to make a delivery on time and without leaving it on the sidewalk (which makes the forwarding moot). Fantastic stuff, on top of their other services. I would like to add though that you can pay extra for searchable PDFs and check deposits and more, which practically seals the deal for me. Much easier to pay a small fee than to deal with all that stuff, and their check deposit service seems to handle a lot more than most banks offer for their scan at home deposit service.

riobard 15y ago

What about privacy? They read all your mails?

silencio 15y ago
If you are worried about that even with their privacy policy, you can have them just forward the mail to you physically without scanning. ECM doesn't scan the contents of your mail by default, only the outside of the envelope/package to OCR and let you identify who it is from. The level of privacy/trust you get is on par with the post office and your mail carrier's.
- stretchwithme 15y ago
  Yeah, opening mail for you is an additional service. You can have them do it for everything or just what you want to look at. It is done by machine, but you are relying upon their system being honest. Of course, if its ever shown that its not, they'll lose quite a bit of business. Is it a federal offense to look at mail someone has authorized you to open? Not sure about that. So, can't say that the level of trust is as high as it would be with the post office. Of course, the post office is much more likely to give your mail to the wrong people, so may not be as save anyway.

silencio 15y ago

I have ECM for the package pickups from street addresses specifically, as I cannot rely on anybody to make a delivery on time and without leaving it on the sidewalk (which makes the forwarding moot). Fantastic stuff, on top of their other services. I would like to add though that you can pay extra for searchable PDFs and check deposits and more, which practically seals the deal for me. Much easier to pay a small fee than to deal with all that stuff, and their check deposit service seems to handle a lot more than most banks offer for their scan at home deposit service.