What Details Does A Credit Card Statement Hold?

After swiping your credit card for all your monthly needs, most users just use the credit card, and when they receive a bill they just pay it off. Although for the thumb rule of paying your debt in full, this practice might be the best it is still very important that you thoroughly check the bill. Paying it off naturally without even looking at the bill for any kind of error can be harmful. Because it can make you pay extra from your pocket for the expense you didn’t make and also impact your credit utilization ratio. Your bill is an intact copy of what you have spent so far in this billing cycle.

Credit Card Statement

A credit Card statement or credit card bill is a financial statement presented by your credit card issuers to update you on your monthly outstanding balance. This is a billing statement for a credit card that includes your expenses so far in this month, your EMI of the month (if any), past months’ outstanding balance, interest rates included, etc. Talking credit card statements, these statements can show your spending habits and even things that you can cut off to save some extra cash from your unnecessary expenses.

Understand the different components of your Credit Card statement

Checking the statement might not seem that much of an exhausting task for the old credit card user but the story can be entirely different for the new ones. For this reason, credit card statement companies present the statements with various sections and further with sub-sections. These sections denote a designated topic and enlist the various details of the same. Here is a listing of various details presented in a credit card statement –

Cardholder details like name, email address, residential proof, etc.
Account summary like opening balance, finance charges, total dues, purchases, payments made, etc.
Past Dues include over-limit charges, monthly dues, minimum due amount, and total amount due.
Domestic Transaction includes the date, description, and amount of the transaction.
Accounts summary on how much is paid and what’s left to be paid.
Reward points summary of accumulating reward points from the staring of the month till the end.
Offers on the card are made for the cardholder.
Other important information related to the terms and conditions of the bank

Details Provided In A Credit Card Statement

A credit card statement is a financial document that includes the important details of a credit card holder’s credit transactions. You get these credit card statements every credit cycle if you are a credit card holder and it can be either a hard copy or a soft copy, most users prefer a soft copy.

The statement indicated every transaction made with its dates and time along with the other party’s name. A credit card statement is pretty lengthy and to make good use of your credit card, you should go through all the information provided in the statement. Following is the detailed information present in your credit card statement and the ones you should pay close attention to –

Cardholders Information

This part includes all your personal and financial details. This sector includes your name, residential address (cardholder), email address, and in case phone numbers.

Dates

This is a very important part of your billing cycle as it indicates on which date the statement was generated. This also includes your ‘payment due date’ as this date is very important for the cardholders to pay the outstanding amount or the minimum due balance before or on this date to avoid any late payment fees. This statement is generally generated on the 15^th or 20^th by most of the banks but the dates can differ depending on various factors.

Transaction History

This portion is a major part of the information present in a card statement because it holds all the transaction details for the whole statement cycle. Every transaction’s date and time, merchant’s name, and the transacted amount, everything is mentioned in this section. The payment you have made in between with any refund is present in the credit column of the statement.

In case you found that any transaction is doubtful or something amiss, you can immediately check with your banks. This section also has any extra charges such as late fees, financial charges, and taxes which need to be checked for future avoidance.

Total Dues

This is the part where it states your total credit which includes your past and current dues along with the minimum due balance. The due balance is the amount to be paid including the over-limit charges (if any).

Credit & Cash Limits

This section indicates your total credit limit and also your available credit limit. Here you can check your available cash advance limit which is the amount you can physically withdraw from an ATM with the help of your credit card.

Account Summary

This part of the credit card statement includes an overview of how much you have spent, how much you have repaid to the bank any past dues.

Reward Points

Another very important section is the summary of reward points in your credit card statement. It shows the opening balance, earned, adjusted points, and the closing balance of your reward points. In simpler terms, all your details regarding the reward points are present in this section.

Offers

Any tailored offers for you are represented in this section of the credit card statement.

Other Important Information

Any changes made concerning the cardholder agreement are represented in this section. This also includes the terms and conditions of the usage of credit cards. There are different repayment options given for your convenience along with the contact details to report any fraudulent activities or loss of the credit card.

Importance of Credit Card Statement

The credit Card statement holds every necessary detail which is important for the cardholder to be aware of.
You get a detailed record of your monthly expenses.
These statements are available without any charge
The statement also includes additional information about new products and services provided by the bank.
With the help of this statement, you can track all your rewards and rebates made available by the banks.

How to download a credit card statement?

You can download your credit card statement just by logging in to your bank’s Net Banking Portal. In addition to this method, you can also download the PDF sent to your registered mail ID by the Bank.

Mostly the credit card issuers set a passphrase format for the cardholder to access your credit card statement. This step is taken to secure your credit-related details from being leaked to any third party. In the mail, usually in the last part, you will find out the instructions which you need to follow to securely open your credit card statement.

Conclusion

Credit Cards are used enormously and mostly we just avoid checking the bills for them which might not be a really good thing to do. Credit card issuers provide their cardholder with a system-generated credit card statement that holds all the necessary information about their credit. This includes your details, credit transactions – merchants name, date, time and amount, credit limit, cash limit, account summary, reward summary, and additional information regards to the bank’s regulations. All this information mentioned in a credit card statement can seem quite excruciating and tiring, but this information can help you get to know your expenses more upfront.

You can also cut off on not-so-important expenses of yours and save some money. A credit card statement informs you about everything related to your credit, how much you have repaid, and how much is left for you to be paid along with your purchasing behavior and your transactional history. A credit card statement also includes your rewards and rebates, it also helps you determine the places you can cut off some expenses to save some money.