Unbalanced got a press release from the Commonwealth Bank last month, informing us it would henceforth offer customers the choice of stopping hard-copy statements and receiving electronic records exclusively.

We were told that if Which Bank laid out one year’s worth of customer statements end to end, the 175 million sheets of paper would stretch around the Earth 1.3 times.

“In an era where climate change and sustainability is increasingly important, the Bank believes it is essential to look at ways to reduce our impact on the environment,” said Ross McEwan, group executive of retail banking services.

All very well, except said press release reached us in the form of two faxed A4 sheets, which had sat for a couple of days unnoticed amongst the cobwebs in our machine’s out-tray.