Conduct Monthly Statement Review Of Credit Cards

I love the financial freedom that credit cards offer me. But do you know one thing that I do not like about credit cards? It is the statement of bills that the credit card company keeps sending me each month, without fail. It is not that I do not like to pay my bills or do not intend to pay back the dues that I owe the credit card company. It is just that I have a habit of meticulously going through the bill details to do a monthly statement review of credit cards I own.

This is not a waste of time, as many of you may be already thinking by now. Believe me, it is better to keep a check on your bill details and in fact I highly recommend every credit card user to do a monthly statement review of credit cards, without fail.

What is the need for monthly statement review of credit cards?

Usually the bill details are all fine and there are no problems at all. But that does not mean that your bill is going to be totally error-free every single time. There are high chances of finding charges on your credit card statement that have not been made by you or some interest was deducted which you are not accounted for etc.

What are the points to look for in monthly statement review of credit cards

Go through all the charges and confirm if they really belong to you or not

Always go through the credit card charges and check the dates of the purchases and all other transaction details mentioned in there. Many credit card users also maintain a list of all purchases and transactions that they conduct on their credit cards. If you too have some such list, compare the list details with the bill details to make sure everything is okay and matching perfectly.

Verify all payments

The next most important thing that you need to verify after the bill details is the outstanding balance mentioned on your statement. Check if the payments that you have completed have been taken in to account or not. Check the value of the outstanding dues and also look for mention of payment date and amount.

Check for any extra fees

Next thing to look for in your monthly statement review of credit cards is extra fees or charges. Sometimes extra fees like late payment fees, foreign transaction fees or some such charges may be seen on credit card bills. Make sure that these fees actually apply to you and also check the amount you are being charged as fees.

Doing a monthly statement review of credit cards should not be avoided or ignored. Some people think of such things as a huge waste of time and effort and even make excuses that they have many other important things to do. Remember that if your statement has an error in it and you fail to notice it and notify the credit card company before a certain time limit, the errors will not be rectified and you may have to pay for such an oversight.