Equity release broker, Age Partnership, is to plant a tree on behalf of every customer who chooses to receive their paperwork online.

The initiative is designed to cut paper wastage by making customers think about how they would like to receive their correspondence from the Leeds-based broker.

Matt Stirland (pictured), executive director of later life lending at Age Partnership, said: “This is about giving people a choice. Digital correspondence won’t be right for everyone but throughout the last two years many customers have adapted to receiving their paperwork online and it is now part of everyday life.

“We provide thousands of recommendations every year, 10% of these are already sent to clients via their online portal. The aim of the tree planning initiative is to increase this volume even further.

“We have listened to feedback from our customers, lots of them are conscious of the amount of paperwork that they receive through their letterboxes every day. The postal delays experienced during the pandemic also added to a change in behaviour and expectations. Customer like the time efficiency of digital paperwork.

“All customers are provided with access to an online portal where they can view their paperwork, including their comprehensive recommendation document, and track the process of their application in real time. Since the launch of the portal, we have been able to reduce the completion time of applications by 15%, whilst also enhancing the advice and service experience for our customers.”

The trees will be planted in conjunction with Tree-Nation, a non-profit organisation that allows individuals and companies to plant trees all around the world and offset their CO2 emissions.