What is a bank statement? By definition, a bank statement is a summary of transactions which are financial in nature and which have occurred over a period of time. You can get a free bank statement template from your bank or other types of financial institutions. The transactions which appear on the statement include deposits, withdrawals, debit, and credit. Usually, financial institutions send these through the mail which is why they usually come in the form of written documents. Although we can now receive e-statements via email, a lot of people still prefer paper bank statement templates so they can keep these in their files and refer to them as needed. Since bank statements come from financial institutions directly, you won’t see a lot of editable bank statements unless you’re planning to create one for your own institution.