After opening a credit card, you will receive a monthly billing statement each month that will mention all the details about your credit card activity. The activities given in your credit card statement includes a list of your transactions, fees that you pay and all your payments, which you make with your account.
If you are receiving multiples credit card statements each month the mail can be pile up. If you
don’t want to delete your statements as you may need it in future but also you don’t want to keep it with you for long. So for how long you need to keep your credit card statements?
Generally, you don’t need to keep your credit card statements for a long time, especially when you have set up your online account. Most credit card issuers view their old credit card statements online. You can easily retrieve your credit card’s old statements or can download it on your device to retrieve it later on.
However, there is no such guarantee that your credit card issuer stores your credit card’s old statements. In such condition it is safe for you to store, these statements that you may need to access in future.
Guidelines for Keeping Credit Card Statements
For the minimum of 60 days, you should keep your each credit card statement. This is the time limit in which you have to dispute any billing errors on the credit statement.
After that, you are not allowed to handle billing error disputed legally so to hold on the statements are not necessary, not for the dispute reasons at least.
Keep the credit card statements only for the items that you want to recover by the extended warranty or purchase protection of your credit card. You can keep that specific credit card for the time until the benefits are functional.
Note: The time limit for the extended warranty and purchase protection may differ from one credit card to another, but the time period lasts between 90 days and 12 months. For your credit card benefits to know about the time limits check with your credit card issuer.
If in your credit card statement there are any purchases related to tax such as donations or business expenses then keep such statements on for six years. For your next tax return, your accountant or tax preparer requires the statements. In case your taxes are ever audited then to hold on to these is also a good idea.
Over the time period, to hold on your credit card statements can be useful for you to track your
spending.
To figure it out where you are spending too much money you can review your past month’s credit card statements. To give you a good perception of your spending habits three to six months of credit card statements may be enough for you.
Should You Also Keep Credit Card Receipts?
Generally, if you are a heavy spender the credit card receipt can pile up quickly as compare to the credit card statements. Use the similar guideline for credit card receipts:
Tip: One of the most important things is to keep your credit card receipt with you until the transaction has been mentioned on your credit report corrected.
Once you will disputes the charges the receipt will come in a hard copy check is there any error in your credit statement. For your tax preparer, you should keep the tax and business-related credit card. In case of a tax audit, keep the store receipt for a long time.
Storing Old Credit Card Statements
If you are carrying a credit card for any specific purpose, then it will be easy for you to label the statement or add a sticky note along with a detailed reason to keep the statement.
Make sure that you are storing your credit card statements in a safe place to avoid any kind of danger. One of the best places to store your statements and other financial documents or valuables is a fireproof safe. If you have saved your credit card statement in system they make sure that the folder is password protected.
The Best Way to Get Rid of Credit Card Statements
To avoid any kind of fraud attempt you should be careful while throwing your credit card statements that you don’t need anymore. To throw it away in the trash is much risky as there is a lot of your personal information that may be exposed so you need to destroy it completely.
To tear up the credit card statements into tiny pieces is one of the best ways to get rid of them after assuring that you don’t need it further.
Moreover, before throwing it in the trash make sure, that you have shredded it to save yourself from any dumpster divers who can steal your statements or can copy your information to make any authorized changes on your account or can even steal your identity.