What your bank should be telling you

23/06/2026

If you have a current account or any other banking product, you’re entitled to clear and accurate information about your finances. Any communication you receive from your bank should: (i) be easy to understand; (ii) present information accurately; and (iii) include all relevant details without hiding risks or costs. Put simply, your bank cannot keep you in the dark or use confusing language to disguise important information.

Whenever you make or receive a payment, such as a bank transfer or a direct debit, your bank must provide you, free of charge and at least once a month, with a detailed statement showing:

• a transaction reference so you can find and identify the payment, together with the payee’s details, where available
• the amount
• any fees that you’ve paid
• the exchange rate used and the final amount after conversion, if the payment was made in a foreign currency, such as US dollars.

In addition to all of this, you’re also entitled to receive, free of charge and at least once a month, a statement listing all transactions on your account. This statement should include details of the date, description and amount of all payments made and received. Banks aren’t required to issue this statement if there have been no transactions during the relevant month.

Lastly, to help you keep track of how much you’re paying for the services linked to your account, your bank must provide you, free of charge and once a year, with a document known as the “Statement of fees”. This document must include, at least:

• the cost of a particular service and how many times you’ve paid it (bank transfer fee, maintenance charge, etc.)
• the total amount paid in fees for each service
• if your account went overdrawn during the year, the interest rate applied and the total amount of interest charged
• if your account earns interest, the rate applied and the total amount of interest paid to you by your bank.

Remember: your bank is required to keep you informed clearly, regularly and free of charge about all your payments, account transactions and fees, so that you always know exactly what’s happening with your money and how much it’s costing you. It’s possible that this information has already been made available to you, but you may not know where to find it. For example, it may be sitting in the inbox of your online banking service, where you may not be regularly checking. As customers, it is important to look at this information regularly and, if anything doesn’t look right, notify your bank straight away.