Credit card transaction history offers customers a dynamic and detailed view of all activity. In fact, 88% of respondents in our 2019 Consumer Credit Card Survey ranked website transaction history and statements as “very important” or “extremely important,” behind only two other attributes: website security and balance information. Card holders peruse transaction history online for a variety of reasons, including to understand spending habits, monitor accounts for incorrect or fraudulent charges, and confirm that transactions and payments posted. A strong card activity interface enables card holders to access a searchable archive of transactions, instead of manually scanning inflexible statement copies.
Corporate Insight’s latest report examines card transaction history offerings from 11 leading card issuers, evaluating the:
- Depth of transactional information
- Search and filter capabilities
- Design and ease of use of the interface
Industry trends
Card issuers offer varying card activity archive lengths, with just four firms (36%) providing the recommended depth of at least 24 months, while the majority (55%) provide 13 months or fewer. Just over half of issuers (55%) include recent transactions directly on the authenticated site homepage; one issuer includes all transaction history on the homepage.
Issuers need to provide exceptional search and filtering tools so that customers can locate specific transactions, and most firms succeed in doing so. All but one firm (91%) provide a keyword search tool, and every firm includes combinable filters.
Date is the only universal credit card transaction history filter option
Lastly, the transaction history table should display all essential transaction details, while expandable transaction views should include supplemental information like maps, merchant information and tags in order to help clients identify transactions or possible fraudulent charges. Every firm with expanded transaction detail views includes additional merchant information, while only three issuers include charge location maps.
Best practices for a comprehensive credit card transaction history
Based on our consumer survey and research report, we levy key recommendations for valuable credit card transaction history interfaces. Card issuers should aim to:
- Include 24 months of transaction history to exceed consumer expectations
- Provide combinable filter and search tools that easily locate specific transactions
- Offer running balance figures, a lacking but important feature for card holders
- Reserve main transaction listing for core information, and incorporate details into expanded views
- Implement recategorization, tagging and spending analysis to meet changing user expectations
- Offer homepage activity previews to streamline recent transaction review
Subscribers can read the full credit card transaction history report on our client portal. For access, or for more competitive intelligence on the customer experience that credit card issuers provide to card holders and prospects, check out Corporate Insight’s Credit Card Monitor service offerings.
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