A account status It is an official document issued by financial and banking entities to their customers. Through it, information is provided on movements, activities, consumption and amounts to be paid in relation to a credit or loan granted.
This is information that is presented in a summarized and regular manner. It is a financial balance that reports on the movements made in an account, as well as the balances pending payable.
Any movement made in an account will appear later in this document and the corresponding interest and charges will be applied, including the dates of the term to be paid. This document, in addition to allowing us to know important information about our account, gives us the opportunity to take control of our economic situation.
Keeping our income in an organized way through account statements allows us to have a broader picture of our personal finances. In case of having a credit card with this document we will know how much our debt is, the cut-off date, pending payments and how much line of credit we can access.
What is an account statement used for?
As we mentioned, they are of great importance, since through these you will understand the status of your debts, the amount of money you have, your cut-off dates, etc. It mainly serves to know all the relevant information, which sometimes we do not even take into account.
You will know all your financial movements, for example, situations arise where they charge your credit card that you did not make, with a account status you will know that all your expenses and payments are in order.
On the other hand, if you have a debit card, you know how much money you have, if your salary was paid or if that person who owed you really made the deposit into your account. However, it is important that you keep these documents, since you can use them as proof if you want to be creditor of a loan.
What are the main functions of the account statement?
The main objective of receiving your status is that you can constantly and disciplined review the account status what do you Allows you to be clear about the payment dates and the amounts owed.
It is important to identify the minimum payments, this is the amount required by the bank to keep the credit current and so that the Credit Bureau does not issue a moratorium mark. However, depositing only the minimum can lead to a situation of non-payment, due to the mismanagement of interest.
In addition to making payments so as not to generate interest, it means that the debt is paid in full. It is an amount that is paid at the end of a cycle. This practice allows the user to benefit from the liquidity that having credit implies, but being clear that it is not their own money.
On the other hand, if you remain constant in your payments, you will get a good credit history, being a creditor of a broader credit and more benefits that come with being a good customer with financial institutions, these are the main functions of receiving statements of bill.
Statement Types
Currently, financial institutions deliver account statements to their clients in different ways, according to their comforts and needs. Receiving it physically through the mail is usually less common, since they are easily lost, being dangerous since these documents have sensitive information such as your account number or credit card, as well as your income.
For this reason, entities have integrated new delivery modalities, one of which is by email or the Internet, where each banking or financial institution must clearly indicate their specific procedure to access the account status online, how to register.
Likewise, through mobile applications that allow a wide variety of actions such as banking operations, checking balances and movements of checking and investment accounts, transfers to own accounts, to third parties, interbank, service payments, credit card , taxes, as well as check the account status.
How do you get an account statement?
Each banking and financial institution will give its users the specific procedures to know their account statements both electronically, by telephone or in print.
This is usually delivered periodically to the address you have given, generally monthly and will depend on the cut-off date of each financial institution. Today, thanks to technological advances, you will obtain it through your email or through the bank applications in which you can access it easily, quickly, and without the need to go to the branches.
It is a document that is generated free of charge and usually automatically. You can check directly at a branch or by phone. Users will indicate the way in which they prefer to receive or consult it, as is the case with the use of electronic banking or receipt via email.
What information should the account statement have?
We usually do not pay as much attention to the information found in our account statements or sometimes we do not even open it and we always have to keep in mind several concepts when reviewing it, we share some elements that you will have to review every time you receive this valuable document .
- General information: Here comes the account number, reference numbers of your card and bank account. Check that these data are correct and really correspond to your account and credit card. If you detect any errors, contact the financial institution that issued your card.
- Recipient Information: Here you will find your personal data: name, address, among others. Check that your data is correct to avoid problems.
- Summary of your account: This is an important section. Depending on your bank or financial institution, the order of the information may change, however, it is important that you identify the following information:
- Balance: It is the amount of credit you have used. In simple terms, it is what you owe.
- Minimum to pay: It is the minimum amount that you have to contribute each month.
- Payment to not generate interest: Even if you pay the minimum, there is interest for using your credit, so that they do not charge you a peso more than what you owe, you need to pay your total balance.
- Cut-off date and payment deadline: It is the date on which the period ends, all the purchases you made up to that day will have to be paid on the payment deadline.
- Credit limit: It is the total credit that you have approved on your card.
- Available Credit: is the amount of credit you have available to use. If your credit limit is $8,000 pesos and you have used $7,000 pesos, then you can use $1,000.
- CAT: It is the sum of all the commissions and costs that the bank applies to you for the credit that it granted you. In short, it is what it costs you to have that credit card.
- Old balance and new balance: Your old balance is the balance due from the previous month and the new balance is the current month’s amount.
- Nominal average rate: It is an annual percentage interest that is applied to the credit you have used.
- Your balance itemized: Here you will find a summary of your purchases and the balances of each one, as well as your cash withdrawals.
Do not forget to check that all expenses are real. If you have any doubts or want to make clarifications, contact the institution that issued you the card as soon as possible.
What should you keep in mind when reading your account statement?
The cut-off balance, which is the amount owed to the bank when the account status of the credit card. This is considering only the purchases made before the cut-off date and to which you will have to pay close attention.
Keep in mind that the previous balance refers to the final balance that was registered on the previous cut-off date. That is, it is the sum of all the operations that have been carried out with the credit card on the cut-off date
Remember that your cut-off date is the date closest to your payment date, so all the purchases you make on those days will have to be paid in a shorter period of time. If you make your purchases in the days following your cut-off date, you will have more time to pay.
Although many banks send their account statements electronically, the concepts are usually the same.
That is why it is important that you learn to read your account status, visit our content on How to read a credit card account statement? And become an expert on the subject that will help you manage your personal finances and verify that everything is in order or, if this is the case, you can report any unrecognized movement and avoid other people’s debts.