Understanding Electronic Bank Statements

Business bank statements are critical to the business lending process. Before a lender can make a decision on a small business loan application, they will want to review the company’s recent business bank statements to get a better understanding of the applicant’s financials. As technology has become more embedded in the business lending process, the use of electronic bank statements has increased. We’ll answer some common questions about bank statements and electronic bank statements below.

What is a bank statement?

Bank statements are documents that detail all of the transactions made within a specific account over the course of a month. They contain information about all of the money that has come in and out of the account, when it happened, and with whom or what the money was exchanged.

What information does a bank statement include?

Bank statements will typically include the following information:

• Personal information: This may include your bank account number, name, business name and address.
• Dates: It will identify the period of time covered by your bank statement, usually a month.
• Bank information: This typically includes the bank’s contact information and instructions for reporting fraud and mistakes.
• Your balance: It will show your statement balance at both the start and end of the statement period.
• Your deposits: It will show all deposits into your account, including direct deposits, checks, transfers, reimbursements, payments and interest earned.
• Your withdrawals: It will show all withdrawals from your account, including purchases, transfers, ATM withdrawals, automatic payments and fees.

What is an EBS?

EBS stands for electronic bank statement(s). They’re the digital copies of your bank statements. Electronic bank statements can be found via the digital platforms of your business bank account. To access your electronic bank statements, locate your statements within your online account. You can then download them to your computer and submit or send them wherever they are required.

Are electronic bank statements safe?

Electronic bank statements are only as safe as the connection that carries them. Therefore, when you’re accessing or uploading your electronic bank statements, you’ll want to make sure the website has a secure connection. Furthermore, if you are emailing your electronic bank statements, you may want to encrypt the PDFs prior to sending. Encrypting the PDFs will require providing the recipient of your statements with a password. This may be worthwhile if you’re concerned about the privacy and security of your statements.

What are the benefits of electronic bank statements?

Rather than mailing all statements, lenders and other financial companies give customers the option to only receive electronic bank statements. When customers do so, they save financial institutions a significant amount of money by sparing them the cost of printing, envelopes and postage. In return, they can access their statements more quickly and reliably. The customer does not have to depend on the post office to deliver the statement. Additionally, transferring and submitting bank statements can be done much more easily in electronic format. Of course, they can also be printed as well if you need a physical copy.

Why was I asked to provide electronic bank statements?

Lenders need to review your recent bank statements and financial data to verify the information on your loan application and make decisions about your ability to repay. Using electronic bank statements provides a faster and more efficient way to transmit this information.

What can OnDeck do with my bank account information if I provide access?

Online lenders use technologies that allow them to access a customer’s bank account information remotely and securely. This allows them to review the information to make decisions regarding approval or credit limit increases. If you allow OnDeck access to your banking information electronically, it is on a read-only basis. We do not have access to change, edit or modify your bank account information in any way. Additionally, OnDeck employees cannot view your account username or passwords.¹

References

¹OnDeck. Privacy Policy. Retrieved 3/10/2022.