A Simple Explanation of Modern Banking Customs

The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Simple Explanation of Modern Banking Customs, by Humphrey Robinson, Edited by Willis Overton Harris
HUMPHREY ROBINSON
Edited from a Legal Standpoint by W. Overton Harris, Former Judge of the Jefferson County (Kentucky) Circuit Court, Dean of the Louisville (Kentucky) Law School
Designed for the promotion of closer and more satisfactory relations between the public and the banks; for the information of depositors generally, and of those just entering the banking business.
BOSTON SMALL, MAYNARD & COMPANY PUBLISHERS
Copyright, 1909, 1910 By Humphrey Robinson
Entered at Stationers' Hall
A SIMPLE EXPLANATION OF MODERN BANKING CUSTOMS
After some years of work in a bank, it has been impressed daily upon the writer that, if the depositors were fully informed about the details of the conduct of banks, closer and more satisfactory relations would result. Hence this attempt to explain, in a simple and concise way, avoiding as much as possible the use of technical terms, certain things that every depositor should know.
For ten years the writer was in business. For an equal length of time he has been connected with a large city bank. He remembers his utter lack of comprehension of banks and their ways, and his consequent mistakes, perplexity, and embarrassment in dealing with them. Also the unfairness and prejudice with which he often judged them.
Recalling all this, he believes that, without giving offense, he can state these facts.
Many men having constant transactions with the banks do not realize the importance of the choice of a bank; few understand the correct way in which a note should be drawn, or how to determine the exact due date of a sixty or ninety-day note, or acceptance; what protesting a note or draft really means, and what effect it has on the drawers or endorsers; the functions of the Clearing House and the simplicity of its methods; why the banks are compelled to pursue a certain course in the collection of paper sent them, even though this course may be very objectionable to the payers; how checks are collected; the effect of certifying a check; and many other details. Also that very few depositors have ever seen a copy of the National Bank Act, or are familiar with the laws governing their own State Banks and Trust Companies.