Should I store credit card statements on a computer?

The practice has arisen recently of storing financial information on computers, including credit card statements. This can have a number of advantages, but there are cautions that should be remembered.

There are two main ways of storing credit card information on a computer. The first is by scanning in credit card statements. These can then be attached to items of credit on personal finance software such as Intuit or MYOB. However, the data will still need to be entered separately and the advantage of this method is that it can quickly access the information and open the file if it is needed.

The second way is to download credit card statements from the issuing bank’s website and store it on one’s local machine. This may then be saved according to the software preferred by the credit card provider, such as html, text, comma separated variables (csv), or Excel readable files, amongst other possibilities. These can aid analysis before being imported into one’s personal finance software, and they are good for analysis in their own right.

There are some pilot programs underway that allow for direct access between personal finance software and certain types of credit cards. This has the potential to save significant amounts of time, particularly if certain stores are linked with certain types of expenditure for organising purposes, e.g., non-taxable, grocery, utilities, etc.. This may also encourage people to use their credit cards more, by simplifying recordkeeping.

There are a number of advantages to storing credit card statements on a computer. The first is that the paper records can be shredded immediately. (It is important to remember that personal statements should not simply be thrown away, but shredded first.) The second advantage is that the statements can be accessed quickly and without fuss if there is any dispute about a payment or transaction. Finally it makes credit card expenditures far easier to analyse and evaluate.

There are some disadvantages, the most obvious being data theft. If a computer is stolen or sold to another person, it can often be possible for the new owner to steal information off the hard drive. It is always a good idea to ensure data is not stored on a laptop computer that travels around a lot, but is instead stored on a desktop machine. It’s also a good idea to ensure a computer is thoroughly cleaned before it’s given away or sold.