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Original poster

Do you keep bank statements?

20 replies

KateyCuckoo · 13/10/2023 14:53

I keep ours all beautifully filed and just thinking as I do my weekly paperwork.... what am I keeping them for? In 20 years I've never looked at them, just periocally shredding them. If I did need to then we have online banking right...?

OP posts:
NotSuchASmugMarried · 13/10/2023 14:55

I have t had paper statements for about 10 years. When I needed to show 3 months worth of bank statements one time I just printed them off

GrazingSheep · 13/10/2023 14:55

Haven’t had a paper bank statement in 7 years.

ApolloandDaphne · 13/10/2023 14:55

I haven't had a paper bank statement for years. Paper free all the way here.

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Original poster
KateyCuckoo · 13/10/2023 14:57

Fab! Thinking about it, I don't receive them for my Starling accounts but HSBC and Nationwide still send them.

OP posts:
MotherofPearl · 13/10/2023 15:05

You can opt out of receiving a paper statement. I did this years ago. If I need to look something up or check a transaction I go onto online banking.

Paper statements seem like a real waste of resources - paper, ink, postage, the labour to produce them.

toomanyboxes · 13/10/2023 15:14

The only issue with opting out of paper statements and doing it all online is if you change bank accounts. You immediately lose access to all the records of your previous account. Same goes for utilities, payslips, you name it.

Online is all very well until you leave, and then you are stuffed.

larkion · 13/10/2023 15:15

I keep bank statements, and always opt out of digital statements. Some institutions requesting bank statements have refused to accept printed ones. And I've needed to send in years of statements when showing origin of funds for conveyancing (savings built up over decades). Some banks don't store digital statements as long as I would keep them, and if you download them, your hard drive or cloud backup could fail. And I'd rather the bank paid for printing and sending them rather than me having to pay for paper and printing.

Growlybear83 · 13/10/2023 15:17

Until last year, I had all my bank statements and payslips dating back to when I started work in 1974, and shredded the bank statements which were more than ten years old. They don't take up much space, especially as the statements on my main account are now only sent quarterly.

LlynTegid · 13/10/2023 15:18

Stopped having paper ones years ago, have a few paper documents such as Council tax demand, so I can prove address if needed.

AlltheFs · 13/10/2023 15:18

I opted out over a decade ago.
I have almost no physical filing now. Life is much simpler!

I do need bank statements periodically for remortgage etc but electronic versions have always been fine.

The only physical bill I find useful is the council tax one for ID so we always get that as a printed version.

Helenahandkart · 13/10/2023 15:20

I keep seven years’ worth, for tax returns. In the past, when I’ve relied on online copies, the website has been down at a crucial moment and I’ve found myself in a tricky situation.

MotherofPearl · 13/10/2023 15:21

toomanyboxes · 13/10/2023 15:14

The only issue with opting out of paper statements and doing it all online is if you change bank accounts. You immediately lose access to all the records of your previous account. Same goes for utilities, payslips, you name it.

Online is all very well until you leave, and then you are stuffed.

But presumably if you were changing accounts you'd download and store your statements yourself (i.e. in your own system) before you closed your account.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 13/10/2023 15:25

LlynTegid · 13/10/2023 15:18

Stopped having paper ones years ago, have a few paper documents such as Council tax demand, so I can prove address if needed.

That's good, but I've recently been dealing with a lot of bureaucracy for my Mum. We needed to close an ISA and get the money into her bank account. I believe it's because of money laundering regulations that one of the many, many documents we had to supply was a bank statement. I did wonder what would have happened if we hadn't had one sent by the bank. We were sending off copies which a solicitor friend certified as true copies of the originals. Not sure she would have been so happy to do that for a printoff.

CloudWhisperer · 13/10/2023 15:25

@toomanyboxes my old bank sent out 6 years of statements when we moved from them. We had always had online statements until that point.

CloudWhisperer · 13/10/2023 15:26

The only physical things I get sent to me are Council Tax and water for ID purposes.

AlltheFs · 13/10/2023 15:29

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 13/10/2023 15:25

That's good, but I've recently been dealing with a lot of bureaucracy for my Mum. We needed to close an ISA and get the money into her bank account. I believe it's because of money laundering regulations that one of the many, many documents we had to supply was a bank statement. I did wonder what would have happened if we hadn't had one sent by the bank. We were sending off copies which a solicitor friend certified as true copies of the originals. Not sure she would have been so happy to do that for a printoff.

Show quote history

As long as they are the proper downloads they are perfectly acceptable- some
people take screen shots which isn’t but if you download the full statements which are identical to printed versions they are fine.

We have used them for several house purchases, dealing with my grandma’s finances (PoA) and probate for my FIL. No issues with downloads from anyone.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 13/10/2023 17:15

Good to know! The other thing I wondered was how people are going to deal with probate or power of attorney in the future if their relative only did things online and there are no printed documents in the house. I'm sure there are ways round this but it may take a bit of working out.

GrazingSheep · 13/10/2023 21:39

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g
We have a spreadsheet with all financial info on it - account details etc.
Our solicitor has a copy stored with our will. We update it annually. Our executors know about this.

Howmanysleepsnow · 13/10/2023 21:43

DH insists we keep them. But he doesn’t do anything with them, and I’ve stopped opening them as I check online. We have 11 years of statements, unopened for the last 5 years! Personally, I’d bin.

toomanyboxes · 13/10/2023 21:54

MotherofPearl · 13/10/2023 15:21

But presumably if you were changing accounts you'd download and store your statements yourself (i.e. in your own system) before you closed your account.

Show quote history

Well you'd think so, wouldn't you, but people forget to do that sort of thing.

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