I've been under the impression that it's required by law that banks send statements, because I've been presented with the option to receive electronic statements but never with the option to not receive statements at all. I searched and found a U. S. government site where it says that statements are required for accounts that have EFTs (which seem to include debit cards). So my bank is obligated to send me statements. http://www.helpwithmybank.gov/get-answers/bank-accounts/gene...
I get an email each month, that I don't think I can opt out of, that says "New (name of bank) eStatements Available" and links me to the bank's website, where I can view and download it.
You're probably right that they aren't legally obligated to provide transaction data in a machine-readable format.
I agree, bank statements are not a good comparison simply because you have an agreement with the bank to store your money. In that type of agreement there would have to be some form of obligation to report your holdings in their bank.
banks used to that to gain customers. Some time ago, every developer working at banks knew that customers were measured in cost per customer. You'd had the cost to please them, and then you'd make money investing their money.
then, fast forward a measly decade, and banks are seen as obligatory. nobody things about NOT having their money in a bank. So banks drop all of the benefits, and we start to measure clients as profit per account. banks now are profiting from investing your money AND holding that money for you just because you never though about not paying the bank.
So, that's the time when we started to have some regulations and minimal service the bank's supposed to provide.
It seems unfair to me to paint all banks with this broad brush... credit unions, and even some traditional banks, are quite worthwhile. There is a lot of competition in retail banking.
I get an email each month, that I don't think I can opt out of, that says "New (name of bank) eStatements Available" and links me to the bank's website, where I can view and download it.
You're probably right that they aren't legally obligated to provide transaction data in a machine-readable format.