About e-communication
About the e-communication sign up process and form
After sign up: what happens next and questions for people who have registered
About Shareview
About ShareholderPlus
Q What is the BT e-communication service?
A The BT e-communication service delivers BT shareholder communications ( e.g. Annual Reports, notices of shareholder meetings) electronically - via email, instead of by post. Put simply, e-communication means "electronic documentation".
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Q Who provides this service?
A This service is brought to you by BT in conjunction with Lloyds TSB Registrars' Shareview facility, and is subject to the terms and conditions of that facility.
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Q How much will it cost me?
A Nothing. This is an entirely free service for our shareholders.
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Q Why should I sign up for the BT e-communication service?
A In addition to the environmental benefits that come from reducing our printing costs, any money we save on production and distribution also helps us to achieve our performance targets - and that's got to be in the interests of all shareholders. You will still have access to exactly the same documents that are sent by post at the same time as other shareholders. Remember too that you can go back to paper at any time if you want to.
Additionally, if you sign up for the BT e-communication service and also choose to have your dividends paid directly to your bank or building society account (or join the BT Dividend investment plan), you will obtain access to ShareholderPlus, an exclusive range of products and services, at a discount, from BT and other partner companies.
Q What will I receive electronically?
A At the time that printed documents are sent to shareholders, you will instead receive an email with an electronic link to the online documents. You can access and read these online, or save or print them as required.
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Q Will I continue to receive anything by post?
A You may continue to receive cheques for your dividends and paper tax vouchers, unless you give instructions to have your dividends paid directly into your bank or building society account. Everything else will be made available to you electronically. If you choose to have your dividends paid directly to your bank or building society account, you will be able to view your dividend information, including electronic tax vouchers, online.
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Q Will I continue to receive a dividend tax voucher through the post?
A If you choose to have your dividends paid directly to your bank or building society account you will be able to view your dividend information, including electronic tax vouchers, online. You will not receive a dividend tax voucher through the post.
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Q Can I change my mind about receiving documents electronically?
A Yes, at any time. Just go to Shareview, enter your Access Number Number (see "What will happen after I have signed up?" below) and password, then click on 'change' next to your mailing preference.
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You can also use the shareholderplus@bt.com feedback link if you have any general queries on the ShareholderPlus scheme, or call our Shareholder Helpline on Freefone 0808 100 4141.
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A Queries on all ShareholderPlus offers can be directed to the partner company concerned - contact details are provided on the Shareholder Offers page.
Q Who do I contact if I have any problems or enquiries?
A E-communication and direct dividend payment bring many advantages. Some shareholders find electronic communications more convenient, others are keen to choose a service that means less paper and less damage to the environment, as well as reduced printing and distribution costs. Direct dividend payment reduces our costs of paying dividends. ShareholderPlus is simply a way to encourage more shareholders to take advantage of a service that ultimately helps us achieve our performance targets - good news for all of us.
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Q Why are the ShareholderPlus offers only available when I sign up for the BT e-communication service and also have my dividends paid directly to a bank or building society account (or join the BT Dividend investment plan)?
A The offers available change frequently. All offers are negotiated individually - and we are constantly looking for offers that can be made available through ShareholderPlus. No specific areas are targeted. Please bookmark the Shareholder Offers page and visit it regularly to take advantage of any latest offers.
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Q What future offers might there be?
A All the current ShareholderPlus offers are outlined on the Shareholder Offers page. For detailed information on specific offers - to find out the location of stores, etc. - you will need to make direct contact with the company running the offer.
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Q Where can I find out about the offers?
A The offers available change frequently. To see details of current offers please go to the Shareholder Offers page.
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Q What current offers are available?
A ShareholderPlus is a specially-negotiated range of online discounts on products and services offered exclusively to shareholders who have signed up to the BT e-communication service and have also chosen to have their dividends paid directly to a nominated bank or building society account (or who have joined the BT Dividend investment plan).
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Q What is ShareholderPlus?
A Yes - the BT e-communication service is offered in conjunction with Shareview and your Access Number / user ID and password/ PIN can be used interchangeably with both websites.
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Q I have a Lloyds TSB Shareview portfolio - is this part of the same service?
Shareview also includes general information on holding shares and help with administering your investments.
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A Once you have registered for the BT e-communication service, you can log on to Shareview with your Access Number and password. If you wish, you can then use the 'add company' option to put in details for other UK companies in which you hold shares. The service will show you details of the current balance, recent movements on your holdings and details of dividends paid to you. You can also use the portfolio service to send voting instructions for forthcoming company meetings and, in some cases, online share dealing services are available.
Q How can I use Shareview?
A There is more information about Shareview on the 'getting started' section of the Shareview site
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Q Where can I find out more about the Shareview service?
A This is the name of the main Shareview service. Your details, and details of your BT shareholding, are held in a portfolio created for you. It is called the 'portfolio service' because you can add in all the UK companies in which you have shares and keep an eye on the total value of your investments (based on a recent mid-market price).
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Q What is the 'portfolio service'?
A Shareview is a service from Lloyds TSB Registrars that provides information about shareholding generally and details of individual shareholdings for companies for which they act as registrar. The BT e-communication service is run in conjunction with Shareview so, if you sign up for e-communication, you are also able to use the services on Shareview, if you wish.
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Q What is Shareview?
A You can always ask BT to send you a copy of the Annual Report, or other shareholder communication, by calling the Shareholder Helpline.
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Q What if I decide I would like a printed Annual Report or other document?
A You should visit the Shareview site, where you can request a reminder for your Access Number. This will be sent to you by post - to make sure your Shareview record remains secure. When you receive your reminder, you can access the secure areas of the site, including ShareholderPlus offers.
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Q I have forgotten my Access Number. What should I do?
A Make sure you keep this number safe in a place where you can easily refer to it if you need to change your details or see information about your shares.
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Q What should I do with my Access Number?
A You should receive a letter with your Access Number within a few days of registering.
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Q When will I receive my Access Number?
A You need an Access Number so that you can access the details we hold for you and change them if you wish. Used with your password, it allows you to update your e-mail address, or vote on AGM resolutions electronically, if you wish. It will also give you access to a number of other services - including the ability to check the number of shares you own, view a valuation of your shareholding and details of dividends paid to you by BT. Your Access Number will also allow you to enjoy the benefits of ShareholderPlus - a scheme offering a growing range of discounts on products and services from BT and participating companies.
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Q Why do I need an Access Number?
A You may not receive a shareholder email for some time - it depends how long it is until the next BT shareholder mailing. If you have not received a shareholder email in six months, the most likely reason is that we have an old email address for you. You can update your email address via the Shareview website.
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Q What if I don't receive any email?
A. Shareview can send a temporary password to your e-mail address so you can access services. Log on to the forgotten passwords page, enter your Access Number and click on 'GO'. A new password should arrive at your address within a few minutes.
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Q What happens if I forget my password?
A You can change your email address using the change contact details page on Shareview - you just need to enter your Access Number and then your old and new email address where shown.
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Q What do I do if my email address changes?
A No - you must be the first-named shareholder in order to register. This is because documents are usually sent to the first name listed in connection with a shareholding. If you are the first-named shareholder, you should make sure you have the permission of the other shareholders to sign up for e-communication, as signing up will also give you access to other services such as the Shareview website.
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Q Can I sign up if I am not the first-named shareholder?
A If you have already registered with Shareview, you can choose e-communication without registering again here. Log on to Shareview using your existing user ID and PIN (or follow the on-screen instructions on how to get these details if you no longer have them), and check that your mailing preference is shown as 'email'.
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A If you live outside the UK, please enter your local postal code in the field, or if you do not have one, enter the name of the country in which you live.
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Q I do not have a UK post code - what should I enter in the post code field on the sign up form?
A Yes. We use software to encrypt any personal data transferred between our site and your internet browser.
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Q Is this site secure?
Your email address will not be passed on to any companies outside your portfolio or to any third parties.
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A Not unless you decide to. You will only receive email about shareholder services for BT shareholders. If you decide to add other holdings to your Shareview portfolio, your e-communication preference will apply to these holdings too - so you may receive shareholder emails from them, if available.
Q If I sign up, will I receive email from other companies?
For additional security, we create your Access Number for you and post it to your home address. And we make sure all personal data is encrypted when it is transferred between our site and your internet browser
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give voting instructions on AGM resolutions electronically
notify a change of address or update other details
Give or amend instructions to pay your dividends directly into your bank or building society account.
A You need to create a password so that you can access your information and other online services securely. You can use it alongside your Access Number (user ID) to, for example:
Q Why do I need to create a password?
Whenever BT send documents to its shareholders, you will receive an email with a link to the electronic version of the document sent out. You will no longer receive a copy of the document by post
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A After you have filled in the sign up form and clicked the 'confirm' button, a 'thank you' screen will be displayed that will tell you a bit more about the online services available to you. A few days later, you will receive by post a letter containing your Access Number (also known as 'user ID'). This is a secure code that you can use on the Shareview site to administer your shareholding in BT - and other companies for whom Lloyds TSB Registrars act as registrar, if you wish. It also allows you to access special services from BT - such as our ShareholderPlus discount scheme.
Q What will happen after I have signed up?
A It can be found on your share certificate, dividend tax voucher, Proxy Card or EasyShare statement. More help is available to identify the correct information.
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Q Where can I find my shareholder reference number?
A This is a unique 8-digit shareholder reference number, which identifies your BT shareholder account. Sometimes your shareholder number is shown in this format: 2450/88997766 - in this case you would ignore the first four digits and just enter 88997766.
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Q What is a shareholder reference number?
Q How do I sign up for the BT e-communication service?
A You can go to www.bt.com/signup and follow the on-screen instructions, or call our Shareholder Helpline. You will need your shareholder reference number, which can be found on your dividend tax voucher, share certificate, Proxy Card or EasyShare statement.
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A No, but there is a known incompatibility between certain versions of Netscape and the security measures in place on the Shareview site, so that, depending on the type of browser you are using (e.g. Netscape, Internet Explorer), you may experience some access problems with encrypted sites. You can solve this problem by downloading a more recent version of browser from the Netscape website.
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Q Do I need any special programs or software?