Printing Bank Statements

My question is about the requirement for bank statements to be printed on bank letterhead. I ordered past statements from my bank in the USA, and compared them with a current bank statement mailed to me this month and with statements I can download from them. They are all exactly the same. So would I be able to use the downloaded statements instead of getting them by mail?

thanks!

You can use statements that you've downloaded and printed yourself; however, you must have the bank confirm they are genuine and accurate statements of your account.  The bank should write a letter confirming this, and stamp your printed statements with their stamp.

Statements that have just been downloaded and printed at home without any authentication they are genuine representations of your finances by the bank are NOT acceptable.

No - it's weird but if they're printed by the bank, they are considered acceptable, but if they are printed from online banking, they must either be accompanied by a letter from the bank, or stamped/signed by the bank on every single page.

So even if they look the same, if you print them yourself, you have to get them stamped/signed by the bank.

From the requirements:

(a) Bank statements must:
.
.
(v) be:

    (1) on official bank stationery; or
    (2) electronic bank statements which are either accompanied by a letter from the bank on its headed stationery confirming that the documents are authentic or which bear the official stamp of the issuing bank on every page.

How do they know where they were printed?

I would hazard a guess as to paper type. At least in the US my bank statements came on different paper than printer/copier.

And having your UK bank print your statements looks nothing like having them posted to you.

I don't think anyone knows for sure, but I'm guessing they handle so many applications where bank statements are required that they become quite good at discerning proper statements and ones downloaded and printed at home.  Like people who work with money - I know someone who handles money so often as part of his job that he knows in seconds upon being handed a bill or coin if it's likely counterfeit.

I'm sure there have been applicants who printed statements at home with a good quality printer where the DIY statements looked just like proper ones ordered/printed at the bank - and there may have not been any issues in the end.  But we always advise going by what the rules say, even if we think they're a bit daft.  UKVI hasn't quite caught up with modern technology.