A banker has a pretty responsible time of it. He is bound to keep secret the state of his customer’s account. He must also know his customer’s handwriting, so, should he pay a cheque or bill which turns out to be a forgery, he must bear the loss. If he neglects to carry out any instructions within the legitimate sphere of banking business, such as the payment of premiums on a life insurance or the purchase of shares, he may be called to account for any loss the customer may suffer through his carelessness.
The simplest bank in the country, and the most important to depositors of small means is the Post Office Savings Bank, about which we must now speak. It is an extensive institution, having over eight thousand branch establishments all over the country; indeed, every money order office is a branch office of the Post Office Savings Bank. At the present time there are more than three and a half millions of accounts open, with an average balance of £13 10s., and the average turnover of the bank, counting both the money deposited and the money drawn out, is twenty-eight million pounds a year.
You cannot, in the Post Office Savings Bank, open an account from which, by means of cheques, you can draw money at any hour. It does not provide cheque books, and makes the withdrawal of money comparatively a slow process, for its leading idea is not to facilitate present business, but to provide for future need. It really starts with the reflection that
“If youth but knew what age would crave,
Many a penny it would save.”
An account may be opened with a very small sum. You can do it with a shilling. With that in your hand you can go to a post office, and assert your intention of placing your savings under the care of the Government. And remember that the shilling, and anything else added to it, will be safer than in any other bank whatever; for the Post Office Savings Bank can only come to grief with the ruin of the British Empire.
Intending depositors must state their Christian name and surname, occupation (if any), and residence, and they must sign a declaration to the effect that they have no interest in any savings bank account, and are willing to have any deposits they may make managed according to the regulations of the Post Office.
When that is done a deposit book is supplied. In this book every deposit must be entered at the time of its being made by the postmaster, or whoever receives it, and he must affix to the entry his signature and the stamp of the office.
“In addition to the receipt in the book, the depositor will receive an acknowledgment by post from the Savings Bank department in London, and this should reach him within four clear days, exclusive of Sundays and bank holidays, if the deposit be made in England or Wales; within six days, if it be made in Ireland or Scotland.”
The interest allowed is 2½ per cent. per annum—that is to say, at the rate of £2 10s. every year for every £100. This is just a halfpenny each month for every pound. Thus, a pound lodged in the bank, and lying there for a year, becomes £1 0s. 6d.: £10 becomes £10 5s.; and £30 grows to be £30 15s. The interest is calculated to the 31st of December in every year, and is then added to and becomes part of the principal.