How Long to Keep Bank and Credit Card Statements

How long to keep bank, credit card and mortgage statements in the US and UK, how long banks keep your records, and getting copies after closing.

There are two questions here: how long you should keep your statements, and how long the bank has to keep its own records of your account. Both depend on what a statement supports and where you are, so every period below is labelled by country, with the rule it comes from.

Typical retention periods

What the statement supports	Keep it for	Where the period comes from
Nothing in particular	Until you have checked it against your own records	No retention rule applies
US: a federal tax return	3 years in most cases; 6 years if you left out income that was more than 25% of the gross income shown on the return; 7 years if you claimed a loss from worthless securities or a bad debt deduction; indefinitely if no return, or a fraudulent one, was filed	IRS, How long should I keep records?
US: a home or other property	Until the period of limitations expires for the tax year in which you dispose of it	IRS, How long should I keep records?
UK: Self Assessment, self-employed	At least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline for the tax year	HMRC guidance on GOV.UK
UK: Self Assessment, not self-employed	At least 22 months after the end of the tax year, if the return was sent on time	HMRC guidance on GOV.UK
UK: a limited company's records	6 years from the end of the last company financial year they relate to, and longer in some cases	GOV.UK guidance for limited companies
Anything under dispute or investigation	Until it is resolved, then the period above	Common sense

Both tax authorities count statements as records: the IRS lists account statements and credit card statements among the documents that support purchases and expenses, and HMRC lists bank statements among the records the self-employed should keep.

Mortgage statements

The US rules are the most specific, so these are labelled US:

Monthly statements and the annual escrow statement (US) — keep them until the year's Form 1098 has arrived and agrees with them. Regulation X requires the servicer to send an annual escrow account statement (12 CFR 1024.17).
Form 1098 (US) — the lender's report of mortgage interest of $600 or more it received from you in the year. Keep it with that year's tax return, for as long as you keep the return.
Closing documents (US) — the closing disclosure or settlement statement and the purchase records. They are property records: keep them while you own the home and until the period of limitations expires for the year you sell it, because they are how the gain or loss on the sale is worked out.
The lien release — the document showing the loan was paid off. Keep it permanently with the deed: it is what clears the title if the payoff is ever questioned.
Do not rely on the servicer (US) — Regulation X requires a servicer to keep records documenting actions taken on your loan account only until one year after the loan is paid off or its servicing is transferred (12 CFR 1024.38(c)(1)).

How long to keep credit card statements

A credit card statement that supports a tax return follows the same periods as a bank statement, in the table above. Beyond tax, three things decide how long to keep it.

US: to dispute a charge, check each statement when it arrives. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, as Regulation Z sets it out, a written billing-error notice has to reach the card issuer no later than 60 days after it sent the first statement showing the error (12 CFR 1026.13(b)). Keep the statement at least until that window has passed.
UK: Section 75 claims. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 lets you claim against the card provider as well as the seller when the cash price of the item is more than £100 and not more than £30,000. In England and Wales, Financial Ombudsman decisions treat a Section 75 claim as time-barred six years after the cause of action arose, under the Limitation Act 1980, so keep the statement showing a qualifying purchase for six years.
Large purchases, anywhere. Keep the statement with the receipt for as long as the warranty, extended cover or an insurance claim might need proof of what you paid and when. The receipt shows what you bought; the statement shows that you paid.

So for most people: check every statement while it can still be disputed, keep the ones that support a tax return for the periods in the table, keep the ones showing a large purchase for as long as its warranty or a claim could need them, and let the rest go.

How long banks must keep your records

Banks keep records largely because anti-money-laundering law requires it, so the minimum in each country is set by that law. These are minimums the bank must meet, not a promise that you can get a copy.

Country	Rule	How long
US	Bank Secrecy Act recordkeeping: among other records, each statement, ledger card or other record on each deposit account showing each transaction (31 CFR 1020.410(c))	5 years (31 CFR 1010.430(d))
UK	Money Laundering Regulations 2017, regulation 40: customer due diligence records and the records needed to reconstruct a transaction	5 years after the business relationship ends, or after an occasional transaction completes. After that, personal data has to be deleted unless an exception applies
India	Prevention of Money-laundering Act 2002, section 12	Transaction records for 5 years from the date of the transaction; identity records and account files for 5 years after the relationship ended or the account was closed, whichever is later

Online banking is a different archive. The bank decides how many months of statements to show there, and it can be far shorter than what it holds behind the scenes. If you need six years of history and the app shows two, the rest has to be requested.

Getting statements for a closed account

Ask the bank in writing Give the account number, the sort code or IFSC, the account holder's name and the exact months you need. Ask whether there is a fee before they start.
In the UK, you can make a subject access request It asks the bank for the personal data it holds about you, which can include your transaction records. The ICO says organisations usually have one month to respond.
If the bank has merged or been taken over Ask the bank that took it over. It can tell you whether the old bank's records came across with the accounts.
Convert what you receive Copies sent from an archive are often scans. Converting them gives you something you can search, but check the totals against the printed ones: a scan converts less reliably than a downloaded PDF.

Before an account closes

Download everything. Once an account is closed you may lose online access to its statements, and after that every copy means a written request.

Download every available statement as PDF Not screenshots. The native PDF is the useful artefact.
Name them consistently account-YYYY-MM is enough to keep them sortable.
Convert them to Excel or CSV as well The PDF is the record; the export is what you can actually search and analyse.
Store both, backed up In two places. A single drive is not a backup.

Keep the PDF, not just the export

For anything that might need to be evidenced — tax, lending, legal — the bank's PDF is the source document and the spreadsheet is derived data. Keep both; the export is for working with, the PDF is for proving.

A retention routine

Download statements monthly Making it a fixed date stops it slipping until the bank's window closes.
Name consistently bank-account-YYYY-MM keeps them sortable and makes gaps visible at a glance.
Convert to Excel alongside The PDF is the record; the export is what you can search across years.
Back up to a second location One drive is not a backup. Cloud plus local, or two clouds.
Review annually Delete what is past its retention period, and check nothing is missing from what remains.

Why the export is worth keeping too

A folder of PDFs is an archive you cannot search. A combined spreadsheet across several years answers questions in seconds — when did this subscription start, how much have I paid this supplier, what was the balance on a given date — that a PDF archive simply cannot.

Frequently asked questions

How long should I keep credit card statements?

In the US, check each one as it arrives, because a billing-error notice has to reach the issuer no later than 60 days after it sent the first statement showing the error, and keep any that support a tax return for the IRS periods: 3 years in most cases. In the UK, keep any that support Self Assessment for HMRC's periods, and any showing a purchase of more than £100 and up to £30,000 for six years in case of a Section 75 claim.

How long should you keep credit card statements and receipts?

Together, for the longer of the two periods that can apply: the tax period if they support a return, and the life of the warranty or any insurance cover for a large purchase. The receipt shows what you bought; the statement shows that you paid.

How long should I keep credit card statements in the UK?

If you are self-employed and they support your return, at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline for that tax year. If you file Self Assessment but are not self-employed, at least 22 months after the end of the tax year. For a purchase that could need a Section 75 claim, six years in England and Wales.

How long does a bank keep account records?

At least five years in the US, the UK and India, under anti-money-laundering rules. US banks keep a record of each deposit account's transactions for five years; UK banks keep due diligence and transaction records for five years after the relationship ends; Indian banks keep transaction records for five years from the transaction.

Do banks keep records of closed accounts?

For a while. UK banks must keep them for five years after the relationship ends, and Indian banks keep account files for five years after the account is closed. Ask in writing, or in the UK make a subject access request, which organisations usually have one month to answer.

How long do banks keep mortgage records?

In the US, Regulation X requires a mortgage servicer to keep records documenting actions on your loan account until one year after the loan is paid off or its servicing is transferred. In the UK, anti-money-laundering records run for five years after the relationship ends. Keep your own copies either way.

How long should you keep mortgage statements?

In the US, keep monthly statements until that year's Form 1098 agrees with them, keep the Form 1098 with that year's tax return, keep closing documents until the period of limitations expires for the year you sell the home, and keep the lien release permanently.

Are digital copies acceptable?

The IRS says the requirements that apply to paper records apply to electronic ones too. HMRC's list of records for the self-employed includes bank statements and does not say they must be on paper. Keep them complete, readable and backed up.

Why keep the spreadsheet as well as the PDF?

The PDF is the evidential record but cannot be searched across years. The export answers questions the archive cannot.

Can I get statements from a closed account?

Usually, by written request, while the bank still holds the records. It is much easier to download them before closing.

Convert a statement now

Bank Statement PDF to Excel, or see every format. More in the guides.