Bank statements don't provide much information about the source of each transaction. Sometimes the description is clear, like for example "UBER" for a trip with Uber. Other times it's hard to identify the source, as they use the name of a company that doesn't match the brand or they use shortenings. For example, Post Office internet subscriptions use to have "PO LTD Telecoms" in the statement. Not easy to identify at all. Other times we buy something online and it's hard to identify which product we bought at that particular time. Other times we subscribe services that we completely forget about and we continue to pay them for years, without even using them. I found in my statements hundreds of transactions that I have no clue about, every single month. Is there any simple way to dig in and find more information about the single transactions?
user1883212 asked Dec 27, 2019 at 1:51 user1883212 user1883212 202 1 1 gold badge 2 2 silver badges 6 6 bronze badgesI recommend that you check your account much more frequently. Don't just look at your statements, but log into the bank's web site and monitor your transactions. Record it all if you have to, etc. Yes, it's a pain, and yes it's extra work, but that's the cost of convenience.
Commented Dec 27, 2019 at 2:06The easiest way I have found is to simply Google the transaction description, or at least the most unique part of it. Googling "PO LTD Telecoms" gives the UK Post Office phone/internet "contact us" page as the first result. Google is sometimes really smart at figuring out what appears to us as a random collection of characters.
Beyond that, there are a couple more things you could try:
Bottom line
Keep track of your money! The sheer number (hundreds?!) of unrecognized transactions every month either means you have posted your credit card details on Facebook or you really have no idea where your money is going. In either case, keep track of all the legitimate transactions and strike those off the statement. Anything left over should be looked into. Once you have everything sorted out, get on a budget and double-check all transactions a few times each month.