VI
STOPPING PAYMENT OF A CHECK
If, for any reason, you desire to stop payment on a check, communicate with the paying teller as quickly as possible. Give him a full description of the check, the name of the party to whom it is made payable, the number, the date, and the amount. Then always confirm this action in writing. If, after examination of your checks, the bank informs you that this particular one has not been paid, you can safely issue another, if desired. Inform your bank, however, that you are issuing a duplicate, and write the word "duplicate" across the face of the check.
VII
HOW THE BANK COLLECTS THE CHECKS YOU DEPOSIT
When your deposit is handed in to the Receiving Teller, he assorts the checks you give him into "foreign" and "clearing" items.
The "foreign" items, that is, checks or drafts on banks in other towns, are then passed on to the route clerk. He, in turn, assorts them so that they may be sent to the banks that will collect them for the least possible cost. For instance, if your bank is situated in the middle West, the checks you deposit on the far West will be sent to a Chicago or St. Louis bank. Checks on Eastern cities, except New York possibly, will be sent to Philadelphia or Baltimore. Checks on nearby towns probably will be sent direct to banks in those towns. The reason for not sending checks direct to the towns on which they are drawn, is, that often they can be collected much more cheaply by sending them through other large cities.
The less expense your bank incurs in collecting, the less it will have to charge you. The depositor should understand that the bank's charges for these collections are figured at about cost.
It is a fact that an examination of this account on the books of any city bank almost invariably will show that it is a source of loss rather than profit. In other words, the city banks really charge their depositors less than it actually costs for collections on other towns.
The "clearing" items, that is, checks on banks in your own town, are passed to the Clearing House clerks. The collection of these checks through the Clearing House, and the operation of that institution, are next explained.
VIII
THE CLEARING HOUSE
The Clearing House is simply a meeting room for the convenience of the different banks in a city; a place in which to swap checks. Small towns have none. Ordinarily no figuring is done here except addition and subtraction. Its operation is simple.