Transaction account

Overview

A transaction account (also called a checking account, cheque account, chequing account, current account, demand deposit account, or share account at credit unions) is a deposit account or bank account held at a bank or other financial institution. It is available to the account owner "on demand" and is available for frequent and immediate access by the account owner or to others as the account owner may direct. Access may be in a variety of ways, such as cash withdrawals, use of debit cards, cheques and electronic transfer. In economic terms, the funds held in a transaction account are regarded as liquid funds. In accounting terms, they are considered as cash. Transaction accounts are known by a variety of descriptions, including a current account (British English), chequing account or checking account when held by a bank, share draft account when held by a credit union in North America. In the Commonwealth of Nations, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa and a number of other countries they are commonly called current or, before the demise of cheques, cheque accounts. Because money is available on demand they are also sometimes known as demand accounts or demand deposit accounts. In the United States, NOW accounts operate as transaction accounts. Transaction accounts are operated by both businesses and personal users. Depending on the country and local demand economics earning from interest rates varies. Again depending on the country the financial institution that maintains the account may charge the account holder maintenance or transaction fees or offer the service free to the holder and charge only if the holder uses an add-on service such as an overdraft.

History

In Holland in the early 1500s, Amsterdam was a major trading and shipping city. People who had acquired large accumulations of cash began to deposit their money with cashiers to protect their wealth. These cashiers held the money for a fee. Competition drove cashiers to offer additional services, including paying out money to any person bearing a written order from a depositor to do so. They kept the note as proof of payment. This concept spread to other countries including England and its colonies in North America, where land owners in Boston in 1681 mortgaged their land to cashiers who provided an account against which they could write checks. In the 18th century in England, preprinted checks, serial numbers, and the word "cheque" appeared. By the late 18th century, the difficulty of clearing checks (sending them from one bank to another for collection) gave rise to the development of clearing houses.

Features and access

All transaction accounts offer itemised lists of all financial transactions, either through a bank statement or a passbook. A transaction account allows the account holder to make or receive payments by:

ATM cards (withdraw cash at any Automated Teller Machine) Debit card (cashless direct payment at a store or merchant) Cash (deposit and withdrawal of coins and banknotes at a branch) Cheque and money order (paper instruction to pay) Direct debit (pre-authorized debit) Standing order (automatic regular funds transfers) Electronic funds transfers (transfer funds electronically to another account) Online banking (transfer funds directly to another person via internet banking facility) Banks offering transactional accounts may allow an account to go into overdraft if that has been previously arranged. If an account has a negative balance, money is being borrowed from the bank and interest and overdraft fees as normally charged.

Country specific differences

In the United Kingdom and other countries with a UK banking heritage, transaction accounts are known as current accounts. These offer various flexible payment methods to allow customers to distribute money directly. One of the main differences between a UK current account and an American checking account is that they earn considerable interest, sometimes comparable to a savings account, and there is generally no charge for withdrawals at cashpoints (ATMs), other than charges by third party owners of such machines.

Transfer systems

Certain modes of payment are country-specific:

Giro (funds transfer, direct deposit in European countries) In the United Kingdom, Faster Payments Service offers near immediate transfer, BACS offers giros that clear in a matter of days while CHAPS is done on the same day. Canada has an Interac e-Transfer service In India, NEFT and RTGS services are available to clear funds in a day.

In the European Union

The Regulation (EU) n. 655/2014 has introduced the European Account Preservation Order, a new procedure of asset freezing in order "to facilitate cross-border debt recovery in civil and commercial matters."

Branch access

Customers may need to attend a bank branch for a wide range of banking transactions including cash withdrawals and financial advice. There may be restrictions on cash withdrawals, even at a branch. For example, withdrawals of cash above a threshold figure may require notice. Many transactions that previously could only be performed at a branch can now be done in others ways, such as use of ATMs, online, mobile and telephone banking.

Cheques

Cheques were the traditional method of making withdrawals from a transaction account.

Automated teller machines

Automated teller machines (ATMs) enable customers of a financial institution to perform financial transactions without attending a branch. This enables, for example, cash to be withdrawn from an account outside normal branch trading hours. However, ATMs usually have quite low limits for cash withdrawals, and there may be daily limits to cash withdrawals other than at a branch.

Mobile banking

With the introduction of mobile banking; a customer may perform banking transactions and payments, view balances and statements, and use various other services using their mobile phone. In the UK this has become the leading way people manage their finances, as mobile banking has overtaken internet banking as the most popular way to bank.

Internet banking

Internet or online banking enables a customer to perform banking transactions and payments, to view balances and statements, and various other facilities. This can be convenient especially when a bank is not open and enables banking transactions to be effected from anywhere Internet access is available. Online banking avoids the time spent travelling to a branch and standing in queues there. However, there are usually limits on the value of funds that can be transferred electronically on any day, making it necessary to use a cheque to effect such transfers when those limits are being reached.

Telephone banking

Telephone banking provides access to banking transactions over the telephone. In many cases telephone banking opening times are considerably longer than branch times.