Bank’s monthly statements met requirements of consumer legislation

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Bank’s monthly statements met requirements of consumer legislation

Categories:

Account information,

Summary:

Archie received monthly credit card statements, but he complained that the frequency of the statements was not truly “monthly”, as in a calendar month, but rather for a month-like period, typically from the fifth of one month to the fifth of the next month. He said this was especially inconvenient for March, the end of the financial year, when he was required by law to provide financial statements for the period up to 31 March. He said the bank provided true monthly statements for his regular accounts and questioned why it could not do the same for his credit card accounts. He also said the bank was breaching the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 by providing statements that were not fit for their intended purpose – to provide a calendar month summary of his credit card spending. The bank said its systems did not allow for a calendar month statement, but it argued the statements were still fit for purpose, and that there was an option in Archie’s internet banking to select (and print out) the transaction history for any date range he chose – including by calendar month.

Published:

October 2024

Our investigation

The terms and conditions of Archie’s credit card said: "Your statement will be made available to you monthly." The terms and conditions did not define whether monthly meant every 30-day period or every calendar month. We were satisfied that, regardless of which one it was, the bank was providing a monthly statement of accounts and that the statements satisfied the requirements of the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993. Even so, we suggested the bank include a definition of monthly in its terms and conditions – a step that might have prevented this complaint in the first place. We also pointed out to Archie that the purpose of the card was to provide a credit facility, not an end-of-year account reconciliation service.