Start with an account summary
Overview sets checking and savings balances beside recent activity and an investment total. Accounts breaks that into the individual deposit accounts, each with a masked identifier, and a combined total.
A summary worth reading separates the current balance from the available balance, because the gap between them is what you can actually spend today. The checking guide explains the distinction and why it causes most unexpected declines.
Review activity
Activity lists transactions with dates, descriptions, categories and amounts. The search box filters on merchant and category text.
The date shown is usually the posting date, not the day of the purchase. A card transaction can surface several days later, and longer over a weekend. The description is the counterparty as the payment system reports it, and a trading name often differs from the name above the shop. That explains most entries people cannot place, so search the description before reporting one as fraud.
Read the status on each row. A pending card authorization can still change in amount or description, or expire outright; a posted entry is what has been recorded against the account.
Transfers, deposits and payments
Transfers takes a source, a destination and an amount, then opens a review step. Read the recipient, the account and the amount back before you confirm the instruction.
Transfer types do not behave alike. Some arrive in seconds and cannot be recalled; others move in overnight batches and can sometimes be returned. The transfers guide sets out which is which. Settle the reversibility question before a large payment, not after it.
Statements and account maintenance
Statements lists the periods available for the account. A statement covers a defined cycle, so an entry posting after the cycle closes appears on the next document rather than the current one. Settings holds the name and email on the account record.
For help with any screen, open customer care after signing in. If you cannot sign in, contact whoever issued your access. Never send a password, a one-time code, a PIN or a full account number in a message.
The product guides
Four reference guides cover the products behind these screens and the mechanics that decide outcomes: how balances settle, how interest is credited, and which payments can still be recalled once sent.
- Checking accounts
What the everyday account does, how current and available balances differ, when a card payment actually leaves, and how overdrafts work.
- Savings accounts
Interest rate versus APY, compounding, access restrictions, building an emergency fund, and what cash does not protect against.
- Transfers and payments
Which transfer types are reversible and which are final, cut-off times and value dates, and what to do if a payment goes wrong.
- Statements and documents
How to read a statement, what to check monthly, how long to keep records, and what is accepted as proof of address or income.
Reading the account terms
Every deposit account runs on an agreement, and the terms that matter day to day are rarely the headline ones. Find these four before you rely on an account.
- The fee schedule
Usually a separate document from the agreement. Read the charges that apply when something goes wrong — a returned payment, a card used abroad, a balance below a threshold — not just the monthly figure.
- How interest is credited
The nominal rate and the compounding frequency together decide what you earn. An introductory rate also has a reversion date, which is where a good account quietly becomes a poor one.
- Access conditions
Whether withdrawals are limited, whether notice is required, and whether a condition such as a minimum monthly deposit has to be met for the rate to apply.
- Deposit protection
Which scheme covers the account, to what limit, and whether the limit is per depositor or per account. It is normally applied per institution, so two accounts at the same bank may share one ceiling.
See opening an account for what the process involves.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my available balance lower than my balance?
Unsettled card authorizations and any holds reduce what you can spend. The current balance reflects what has posted; the available balance reflects what you can use today. The gap closes as those transactions post.
A transaction shows a date I do not recognize.
Activity lists and statements show the posting date, not the date of the purchase. A card transaction can post several days later, and longer over weekends and public holidays.
Which screen should I check before a large payment?
The account detail, for the available balance. The current balance tells you what has already happened, which is not the same as what the account will cover today.
