What is the purpose of a bank statement and why would the bank send a statement at the end of the month?

Answer 1

The bank statement is a record of all the transactions made to your account. With it, you can check that all the transactions are accurate, that there were no debits or credits added to your account by mistake and you use it to help balance your checkbook, make sure you didn't forget anything and added correctly. It is sent at the end of the month because there is no activity to report at the beginning. Why send a statement before you have made any transactions?

Answer 2

I personally use my bank statement (both checking and savings) to verify my transactions at the end of each month (basically "balancing the checkbook") - and yes, about 2x per year I do find mistakes I made in my math and need to correct them in my checkbook.

I would think it is also good in case someone else got access to your account to know that stuff was going on.

However, these days, I would agree with those that say that if you have online access to your accounts, the statements themselves are somewhat redundant....but not everyone has a computer or uses it for online banking.

Answer 3

So you can reconcile, or double check, your balance.

You keep a running balance in your check book. How do you know it is right or that all your checks were cashed. Maybe the bank makes a mistake.

Answer 4

bank statemants are for security purposes. If some one every stole money from you, or say you got a boyfriend and he finds out your account number and he's stealing money, you would be able to know exactly what happened and they can find out who took your money.