5 Reasons Why Electronic Mailbox Services will Fail

1. Contrary to the arguments, it IS one more password you have to remember and it IS one more site you have to visit.  Plus there is no APP yet.
2. Consumers are NOT asking for a different way to receive electronic statements.  There is not the dramatic rush to e-statements as hoped, and for those that choose to receive statements electronically, email is doing the job just fine. 
3. Not every mailer has signed on, but anyone can setup EFT payments through their online banking account.  And this has been around since the dawn of online banking.
4.  It is just a way for companies to send you SPAM as “Approved Senders” and not get rejected by your spam filter.  Plus, they know even more about you because of the collection of data and your “preferences”.  I am all for targeted messages, but be honest with your intentions.
5. Companies will not sign on until there is a critical mass of users, and users will not sign up until they have a significant number of statements that they can handle in their electronic mailbox.  The Chicken or the Egg applies here, too.

BONUS REASON: Web innovation has not come from big companies, (Remember: google has failed at social media) and start-ups can go broke trying to wrestle on the marketing side with the 800 lb gorilla.  One will fail to focus on the user experience because they are more concerned with shareholder profits, and the other will not be able to offer enough incentives and deals to entice mailers, due to shallow pockets (even though $27 million in VC sounds pretty good).