Scouring Your Credit Card Bill and Bank Statement

Posted by: Michael S. | Dec 21,2007

I can imagine some people reading the posts on this site about credit card fraud and finally deciding to be vigilant about checking their credit card and debit card bill every month.  It’s one of those things that’s easier said than done.  They say that debit cards are better than cash because you can keep track of your spending, as opposed to cash which has no immediate record.  That’s all well and good, but it can be very difficult to scour through your credit card bill and bank statement.  

At the end of the month you’ll get a record of all the purchases you made.  Do you really remember every way you used a debit card on the first of the month?  People use their debit cards over a hundred times every month, if not a lot more than that.  So this is what happens: you look at the bill which lists all of your expenditures.  You’ll see list after list of stores.  Maybe there’s a listing for Walgreen’s.  Did I shop there, or was it Rite Aid?  It must have been Walgreen’s.  There are other listings for restaurants – places where you might have forgotten the name.

All told, it just looks like a cluttered bunch of info.  Early on, I’d just look at my debit card bill to make sure that there were no charges out of town.  My eyes would glaze over looking at the laundry list of purchases and I’d whittle it down to location, rather than type.  Obviously not the best way to go, but understandable given the amount of information in a long list of debit purchases.  Credit purchases are a bit easier, at least for me, because I use my credit card far less than I use my debit card, but still some of the same problems apply.

If you’re married, this problem is doubled, especially if you’re both using debit cards tied to the same account.  There may be charges that you didn’t do yourself and so you’ll just assume they were made by your husband or wife – rather than assuming they're fraudulent.  It’s very important to keep in mind that a lot of identity theft is local.  Someone is not necessarily going to take your card on a trip to Aruba.  They’ll use it for local purchases, or online, which will not be as immediately suspicious.  

So what’s the solution?  Unfortunately, there’s no quick fix.  Bank statements are long and complicated.  I’d recommend setting a time aside every month to go over your bank statement and credit card bill.  Don’t rush it.  Make sure that every charge to your cards is valid.  Just doing a quick sweep of your bill is not enough.  To really make sure that your bill is clean, you’ve got to validate each and every purchase.  

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