E-Receipts May Not Be As Convenient As You Might Think
BOSTON (CBS) - Paper or e-mail? That's the new question you may be asked the next time you pay for something and the clerk offers you a receipt.
But if you opt to have a receipt electronically sent to your inbox, what else could start popping into your e-mail? Will you be compromising your privacy?
Paperless receipts are the wave of the future. Major banks e-mail customers their ATM receipts. Mobile vendors send e-receipts to your inbox.
WBZ-TV's Paula Ebben reports
And the number of retail stores offering electronic invoices is exploding.
"More customers are opting to receive their receipts via e-mail because it's saving on paper and it's also more convenient for them," says Shaleighne Murphy of Alex and Ani Jewelry.
That's why CPA Stephen Macary loves e-receipts. He manages a fleet of company cars, and when one needs an oil change, the repair shop emails him the invoice.
"It gets you the information in a timely manner, and you're able to view the documents pretty much right away," says Macary.
But shortly after Macary gave the repair shop his email, surveys, coupons and reminder notices started popping up.
"All these vendors capture information; they're going to capture it for emailing you something," Macary says.
Other recipients we talked to say the same thing: as soon as they went paperless, e-offers followed. The reality is businesses make big money filling your inbox with offers and even selling your information.
"Nothing is as profitable as your own in-house mailing list. When you give that information, you're building a store's mailing list," says Robert Smith of Champion Media Worldwide.
We found retailers can actually track you through e-receipts and coupon offers.
"When you send a digital receipt, you can see the person open it, you can see if they clicked on a subsequent offer," says Mark Johnson of Loyalty Marketers Association.
Consumer advocates tell us some retailers take that information and build profiles about you, including who you are, your age, and your buying habits.
Privacy experts say before you choose to get an e-receipt, find out:
- Can you opt out from e-offers?
- Does a company sell your information to third parties?
- And how do they keep your information secure?
"These e-mail addresses can now be as valuable as a credit card number because they have huge data insights into the individual transactional behavior and product interests," Johnson says.
There are precautionary steps you can take. Set up a separate e-mail account just for email receipts and make sure you have good virus protection on your computer.
It's also a good idea to save back-up copies of your e-receipts on a flash drive in case your computer crashes, especially if you're saving them as tax records.
