Can I delete my transaction history in online banking or apps?
You can't delete your transaction history. Use cash, gift cards or start a separate account if you want to keep a purchase private (hey, no judgement here!).
Key takeaways
- You can't delete the transactions on your bank or credit card statements. There's always a record.
- Most banking apps will let you hide or recategorise things like money transfers between accounts to help with budget tracking. But you can't delete the transaction.
- If privacy is a concern, you could set up a separate card or bank account that's just for you, use cash or a gift card.
Tips to keep your transactions private
- Set up a separate account. If you have a joint account and there are some transactions you just don't want anyone else to know about, get a separate account with a debit card or credit card keep all the information private. Some banks let you hide a new account from your existing online banking account.
- Use cash. This may seem obvious, but it's effective. Next time you want to hide a purchase, pay with cash instead for traceless anonymity.
- Use a gift card or prepaid card. If you buy a gift card, only that purchase will show up on your regular statement. So any transaction you make with the gift card will be completely private. You can buy a mix of gift cards from major stores, including Coles and Woolworths, with different brands and ways to spend them.
- Opt out of paper statements. If you’re still getting paper statements, contact your bank or provider and ask them to switch to electronic statements instead. You'll then get statements via email and through online banking – so if your account details are safe, your transactions will be private.
What about PayPal?
PayPal can give you some degree of privacy for your account statements, because the details will show "PayPal" as the first part of the description. But the merchant's name is also usually included, so you won't always get more privacy. Your PayPal account also shows the list of merchants you have made transactions with, so make sure you keep your PayPal password extra secure.
Hiding transactions on banking apps
Some banking and money apps allow you to hide transactions for eligible cards or accounts. For example, the Beyond Bank+ includes an option to hide transactions so that they are not included in budget tracking. For example, if you wanted to exclude your monthly mortgage payment from your monthly spending to see a clearer picture of how you spend money day to day.
But all transactions are still available to view on statements or by unhiding/searching for them.
It's impossible to delete transactions from your credit card statement or any other bank statement. But you can keep them secret if you have your own account and keep your login details private.
"My wife and I have a joint credit card. She's the primary cardholder, which means she can see all my spending and her spending on the app. But I can only see mine. If I buy something, she sees it. But I can't see when she does. I could probably even the scales by logging in with her details on my app instead of mine. But it doesn't really bother me! We're very open about our finances and if I need to buy something in secret, I'll use a debit card. "
Do credit card statements show exactly what you bought?
The key details listed for each credit card transaction are the name of the merchant and the amount spent. But there is not a detailed description of each transaction listed for your account.
For example, if you bought 8 things at Chemist Warehouse, no-one would be able to tell what items you bought by looking at your credit card statement. All you'd be able to see is "Chemist Warehouse - $87" and maybe the location of the store where the payment was processed.
Need help?
If you’re trying to cover up mounting debt, you might want to consider consolidating and paying off your debts with a balance transfer credit card. And if you need help or advice about your situation now, call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 to speak to a financial counsellor for free.
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