Scanned or text PDF? Check your bank statement before converting
Converters read bank statements in two very different ways. A text PDF contains the actual characters. A scanned PDF is a picture of a page and needs optical character recognition (OCR), which is slower and less reliable.
The ten-second test
Open the PDF and try to select a word in a transaction description. If you can highlight and copy it, the PDF has text. If the whole page selects as one image, it is scanned.
How to get a text PDF
Download the statement directly from online banking instead of scanning or photographing a paper copy. Most banks offer monthly statements as text PDFs.
| Statement type | Selectable text | Supported by StatementNest |
|---|---|---|
| Downloaded from online banking | Yes | Usually, if the layout is supported |
| Scanned paper statement | No | No |
| Phone photo of a statement | No | No |
Why we are strict
Guessing numbers from an image risks wrong amounts in your accounts. StatementNest only converts text PDFs and links every row to its source page so you can verify it.