Note: Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See http://archive.org/details/simpleexplanati00robi Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). Text enclosed by tilde characters is in bold face (~bold~). A SIMPLE EXPLANATION OF MODERN BANKING CUSTOMS by 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 CONTENTS PAGE I. General Remarks 9 II. The Choice of a Bank 14 III. Opening a Bank Account 17 IV. How to Deposit 22 V. Your Account on the Bank's Books 26 VI. Stopping Payment of a Check 32 VII. How the Bank Collects the Checks you Deposit 33 VIII. The Clearing House 36 IX. A Certified Check 49 X. Protesting Notes, Drafts, etc.,--why Necessary and how it is Executed 53 XI. The Local Collection Department 64 XII. The Loan Department 77 XIII. New York Exchange 99 XIV. The Method of Issuing National Bank Notes 102 XV. The So-called "Special Privileges" of Banks 109 A SIMPLE EXPLANATION OF MODERN BANKING CUSTOMS I GENERAL REMARKS 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.