Paper and Digital Use and Acceleration
Along with lowering our energy and emissions impact on the environment, our operations have also enabled us to decrease our reliance on paper use.
Over the past year, we have reduced internal copy paper purchased by 8 percent, including purchasing 99.5 percent of our paper from Forest Stewardship Council certified suppliers. We also continued to encourage customers to shift to online and mobile banking, and to receive their account documentation electronically. We continue to increase the use of eSignature at the bank. eSignature allows customers to digitally sign documents as well as provide electronic delivery of completed documents. In 2021, we expanded the eSignature functionality to nine additional groups, including 61 new forms.
| WASTE - Paper use (as of December 31, 2021) |
Units | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WASTE - Paper use (as of December 31, 2021)Pages of Copy Paper Purchased (millions) |
Units:Pages | 2021:80.5 | 2020:87.2 | 2019:128.9 | 2018:158.3 | 2017:192 | 2016:216.7 |
| Pounds of Paper Recycled (millions) | Units:Pounds | 2021:13.7 | 2020:11.9 | 2019:8.3 | 2018:10.1 | 2017:11.4 | 2016:12.3 |
Though these efforts were amplified by the need to operate remotely during the pandemic, our digital innovation and expansion were integral in facilitating the transition away from paper while also maintaining multiple channels for us to provide safe and secure customer service. Our digital users are up 7 percent from last year, with 3.1 million active digital customers and more than 1.1 billion digital logins in 2021. Additionally, 2021 active mobile users were up 12 percent compared to the prior year, and Regions finished the year with a mobile app rating of 4.8 out of 5. This is a direct result of numerous enhancements to our mobile platform made over the last couple of years, which allow us to deliver innovative features and functionalities to make banking easier for our customers.
Electronic Waste
Regions strives to reuse electronic equipment whenever possible. In 2021, we redeployed computers internally and resold pieces of IT hardware. When reuse or resale is not feasible, we recycle using approved hardware recycling vendors that are Sustainable Electronics Recycling International R2:2013 Standard-certified. These certified vendors ensure that our electronic waste is properly managed and that valuable raw materials are recovered and reused.
