Your mortgage broker needs three months of bank statements. You download them from online banking and they land unencrypted in your Downloads folder. If you forward them as-is, anyone who ends up with that email — including whoever inherits it from your broker's IT — sees your account number, your salary, your rent, and your address.
Why bank statements deserve a password
A statement contains: full account number and sort code, full name, address, employer (via salary credits), every transaction including who you bank with, balance, sometimes partial card numbers. That's enough for identity fraud and targeted phishing.
Most banks don't password-protect downloads by default. The work falls to you.
The five-second workflow
Open Flint's password tool, drop in the statement, type a passphrase, download. Repeat for each month — or merge them first into a single PDF and encrypt once.
Send the file by email. Send the password by text. Never the same channel.
What to redact, what to leave
Your accountant or broker usually needs everything. Don't redact unless asked. For other audiences — say, sharing one transaction as proof of payment — use Flint's redaction tool to blank out everything else. Crop or delete pages that aren't relevant.
FAQ
Should I password-protect statements even within my own family?
If they're going by email, yes. Email forwards and archives forever. If you're handing a printout to a partner, the threat model is different.
My bank already password-protects downloads — do I need another?
Some banks use a weak default (date of birth, postcode). Re-encrypt with a passphrase chosen by you, especially if you're emailing externally.
What password should I use?
Generate a passphrase in your password manager. Don't use your date of birth or post code — both are guessable and partially public.
Is it safe to use a free online tool for bank statements?
Use one that processes in the browser, like Flint. If the tool uploads to a server, your statement is now on someone else's infrastructure.
Don't email statements naked. Lock them first — it takes ten seconds.