An account statement or a bank statement is a summary of all financial transactions occurring over a given period of time on a deposit account, a credit card, or any other type of account offered by a financial institution.
Bank statements are typically printed on one or several pieces of paper and either mailed directly to the account holder's address, or kept at the financial institution's local branch for pick-up. Certain ATMs offer the possibility to print, at any time, a condensed version of a bank statement.
Historically, bank statements were produced quarterly or even annually. Since the introduction of computers in banks in the 1960s,[1] bank statements are generally produced every month. Lesser frequencies are nowadays reserved for accounts with small transaction volumes, such as investments or savings accounts. Depending on the financial institution, bank statements may include certain features such as the cancelled cheques (or their images) that cleared through the account during the statement period, promotional inserts or important notices about changes in fees or interest rates. Thanks to online banking, financial institutions offer virtual statements, also known as paperless statements or e-statements. Due to identity theft concerns, a virtual 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, a virtual statement can be easier to obtain than a physical through computer fraud, data interception and/or theft of storage media.
It should be noted, although popular for customers, paperless statements are a way for a bank to reduce their costs.