What Is A Bank Statement & How To Use It

• A bank statement in short is a printed record of the balance in a bank account and the amounts that have been paid into it and withdrawn from it, issued over the last month or quarter to the holder of the account. You can also see your starting and ending balances of each period.
• Your statement shows every transaction in your account such as deposits, withdrawals, fees, interest earnings and other transactions, helping you make sense of where your money comes from and where it goes. It is important to carefully look over all the details on your bank statement in order to prevent any fraud from happening. Many banks and credit unions mail a statement once a month, while some banks may choose to send a quarterly statement.
• If you have online banking, you usually have access to an electronic version of your statements on the bank’s website and mobile app, and you may opt to go paperless to only receive electronic statements.

What Is On a Bank Statement?

Depending on the bank, you may see differences in the layout of your bank statement. However, most bank statements will have some of the same information such as the following:

• Account activity: This section details all of the transactions made during the statement period, such as purchases, deposits and withdrawals, in chronological order.
• Account balance: This shows the amount of money in the account on the closing date.
• Account number: This is the way the bank identifies the bank account.
• Account summary: This provides an overview of the account, including the opening and ending balances, deposits, withdrawals and fees.
• Account type: This is the type of account shown, such as checking or savings.
• Bank contact information: This includes the mailing address, phone numbers and website details for the bank’s customer service department.
• Credits: This is the money credited to the account during the statement period.
• Debits: This is the money removed from the account during the statement period, such as debit card purchases, checks and bill payments.
• Statement date: The date that marks the end of the statement period is typically located at the top of the document.
• Total fees: These are the fees charged to the account during the statement period.
• Transaction date: This is the date when the transaction was processed.
• Your name and contact information: Make sure to check that the details are correct and to report any errors to the bank.

It is a federal law for a bank to include either the number of days in the statement period or the start and end dates of the statement period. Banks must also include the dollar amount and APY, or annual percentage yield, of any interest earned, along with the dollar amount of fees taken out of the account during that time.