A bank statement or account Statement is a summary of financial transactions which have

occurred over a given period on a bank account held by a person or business with a financial
institution.
Bank statements had historically been printed on one or several pieces of paper and either mailed
directly to the account holder, or kept at the financial institution's local branch for pick-up. In recent
years there has been a shift towards paperless, electronic statements, and most financial institutions
offer direct download into account holders accounting software.
Some ATMs offer the possibility of printing, at any time, a condensed version of a bank statement,
commonly called a transaction history, or a transaction history may be viewed on the financial
institution's online banking software or available via telephone banking. Transaction history may also
be shared with other financial institutions when the account holder gives permission through open
bankingto provide services such as account aggregation.

Contents

 1History
o 1.1Electronic statements
o 1.2Open banking
 2By Country
o 2.1United Kingdom
o 2.2United States
 3See also
 4References
 5External links

History[edit]
Historically, bank statements were paper statements produced monthly, quarterly or even annually.
Since the introduction of computers in banks in the 1960s,[1] bank statements have generally been
produced monthly. Bank statements for accounts with small transaction volumes, such
as investments or savings accounts, are usually produced less frequently. Depending on the
financial institution, bank statements may also include certain features such as the
cancelled cheques (or their images) that cleared through the account during the statement period.
These statements were posted to customers home address.
Some financial institutions use the occasion of posting bank statements to include notices such as
changes in fees or interest rates or to include promotional material.
Starting in the late 1990s, banks started to encourage customer to switch to electronic statements.
This saved significant cost and resources as there was no longer a need to print and mail
statements. The process would require customer consent which was typically obtained through
online banking system as there were legal requirements in many countries to produce statements on
paper when requested. Some countries such as Japan never had a tradition of mailing statements,
individual account holders are expected to keep track of deposits, withdrawals, and balances using
their own passbooks at Automated Teller Machines.
Electronic statements[edit]
With the wider access to the Internet and online banking starting in the late 1990s, bank statements
(also known as electronic statements or e-statements) could be viewed online, and downloaded or
printed by the customer. To reduce the cost of postage and the generation of paper bank
statements, some financial institutions encourage their customers to receive bank statements
electronically, for example by charging a fee for paper statements. This may be as attachments to
emails or, as a security measure, as a reminder that a new statement is available on the financial
institution's website. Whether such statements are transmitted as attachments or from the website,
they are commonly generated in PDF format, to reduce the ability of the recipient to electronically
alter the statement.
Due to identity theft concerns, an electronic statement may not be seen as a dangerous alternative
against physical theft as it does not contain tangible personal information, and does not require extra
safety measures of disposal such as shredding. However, an electronic statement can be easier to
obtain than a physical one through computer fraud, data interception and/or theft of storage media.
Open banking[edit]
Starting in 2015 developments such as open banking made it easier for third parties to access bank
transaction data and introduced standard API and security models.

By Country[edit]
United Kingdom[edit]
In the United Kingdom, all banks and building societies are required by law to provide a paper bank
statement to customers.[2] However, this does not apply in cases where the customer has
a passbook, is a customer of an online only bank or has elected not to receive paper statements.[3]
United States[edit]
Banks in the United States are only required to send a statement for a checking account if one
transaction has been made from that account in a month. Consumers also have the option to receive
electronic statements.[4]

See also[edit]
 Bank account
 Passbook
 Telephone banking
 Transaction account
 Open banking

References[edit]
1. ^ Royal Bank of Canada - History
2. ^ Peachey, Kevin (2014-02-12). "More cuts for paper bank
statements". Retrieved 2019-04-26.
3. ^ FCA Handbook, BCOBS 4.2 Statements of account Retrieved 26-4-
18 https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/BCOBS/4/2.html
4. ^ "Does my bank/credit union have to send me a monthly statement
for my checking account?". Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
2018-03-16. Retrieved 2019-04-26.

External links[edit]
 Samples of Bank Statements
 Categories:
 Banking terms
 Accounting source documents
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