Bank of Valletta is now offering its customers the option not to get a printed receipt for card transactions effected through a BOV EPOS machine.

The small paper receipt that is normally stuffed in one’s wallet or pocket and thrown away some time later, might not seem like a huge environmental hazard until one realises that this little piece of paper is just one out of hundreds of thousands of receipts that end up adding to the local waste disposal problem annually.

EPOS transaction receipts are printed on thermal paper. Despite being recyclable material, thermal paper requires a higher level of energy and effort to be recycled than normal paper thus further augmenting the environmental concerns.

In its continuous endeavour to increase its environmental friendly measures, BOV has implemented an efficient process whereby a cardholder who effects a card transaction on a BOV EPOS machine will be given the option to proceed with the payment without printing the cardholder’s transaction receipt. Through this simple process, the BOV EPOS machine will prompt the cardholder to select the option to either ‘print’ or ‘not-to-print’ the transaction receipt. BOV strongly urges its clientele to ‘beat the receipt’ and select the no-print option.

“We piloted this initiative during the height of the pandemic and was very well received by both merchants and cardholders. Besides the obvious advantage of reducing the use of tons of paper annually most of which will end up in a landfill, this initiative will reduce the handing of receipts from the merchants to the clients in this time when everyone is still being very cautious about the spread of COVID-19,” said Franco Xuereb, executive, electronic banking unit, at Bank of Valletta.

“Cardholders will still have the option to get a paper receipt should this be required, but we are urging our customers to place the environment and their health at the forefront and refuse the receipt. We have also redesigned the receipt and reduced its size by 33 per cent, thus reducing paper usage. All transactions effected through BOV cards can be viewed through the bank’s internet banking and mobile banking applications thus eliminating the need for the printed receipt.”

‘Beat the receipt’ and contribute towards this environmental friendly cause.