We open accounts online and do not issue a "paper" certificate for our CDs. We have a customer that is concerned without the paper certificate, if he dies, his family will not know he has one.
As an industry, when did we stop or as an option stop issuing paper CDs?

Many if not most banks still distribute "Certificates of Deposit."

Actually, the mystery is "Why did we start handing out pretty pieces of paper and telling the customers they were important?" The answer to that is in the 1930s when banks wanted their "Certificates of Deposit" to be as impressive and substantial as the incredibly ornate stock certificates customers received when they invested in a corporation.

It's our fault that people believe the pieces of paper are important. They did not mean anything then and they don't mean anything now.

If your customer keeps a the receipt in his safe deposit box or with his important papers I can assure him that his heirs will track down every whiff of an asset they can locate.

Thanks Ken-