Bank Giro Credit -what is it ??

What is Bank Giro Credit ??

I think it's another way of paying bills, but I have never used or understood as I think banks can charge for it & it's not as widely used as other payment methods.

peter999
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  • taless
    taless Posts: 244 Forumite
    I assume you mean the Bank Giro Credit that you see in the back of cheque books and the paying in books??

    It is a slip which has your account number and sort code printed. It saves the payee time of filling in the a/c number and sort code when banking in cash/cheque. So you can give this BGC to someone who is going to pay the money for you at the bank.

    I never heard of banks charging for BGCs! It is not a payment by itself, as it itself contains no value!
  • smithja
    smithja Posts: 561 Forumite
    Hi

    They dont charge until you actually use it to make a payment at a branch counter.

    There are few different senarios, if you bank with the bank you are making the payment in and the bank giro credit is going to one or their own accounts or another bank they dont usually charge you. If you are in a branch of the bank that is the receiving bank, they also sometimes dont charge (and I dont think they should, HSBC were taking a fiver a time off of me to pay my capital one account when the account it was going to was an HSBC collections account, but I note on the back of my ge money card statement it says if you pay in LloydsTSB there is no charge). And finally if you go to a different bank from the one the credit is being made to, which you dont bank with they will charge.

    I hope that makes sense.

    James
  • Biggles
    Biggles Posts: 8,209
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    Bank Giro Credit was the manual system that preceded BACS, the current electronic transfer system.

    Typically, your employer would go to the bank with a big fat cheque and dozens (or hundreds) of BGC slips and the bank would take the cheque and send each of the recipient's bank accounts the funds on the slips.

    The other main use was when your utility company printed (as they still do) a BGC slip at the foot of your bill and you could go to your bank (or to the utility's bank) and pay the funds over the counter for forwarding to the company.

    The actual slips are pretty well unchanged but are mainly now seen as paying-in slips, as Taless mentioned.

    I must admit I don't recall being charged when using them on a personal account as long as I was using my own branch (or the utility co's bankers).
  • Hazzanet
    Hazzanet Posts: 1,713
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    Biggles wrote: »
    Typically, your employer would go to the bank with a big fat cheque and dozens (or hundreds) of BGC slips and the bank would take the cheque and send each of the recipient's bank accounts the funds on the slips.

    Ooh, the dreaded cascading credit. That takes me back 10 years to when I worked for the NatWest, and they stopped 'em :D
    4358
  • peter999
    peter999 Posts: 7,097
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    peter999 wrote: »
    What is Bank Giro Credit ??

    I think it's another way of paying bills, but I have never used or understood as I think banks can charge for it & it's not as widely used as other payment methods.
    I just realised that these are just the standard bank pay in slips to a specific bank account, used for bills, account pay-in slips etc. No charge if you use your bank or the payee's bank (shown on slip).

    Maybe I was confusing with some payment scheme in the Post Office, is there a TransCash or payments to Girobank (now part of Alliance & Leicester) who I think had unique payment systems through post office.

    "Girobank was established in 1968 and known then as the National Girobank. It was set up by the Post Office and provided a public banking facility for people without bank accounts. An additional advantage was that the number of post offices around the country was greater than the number of banks. Nowadays Girobank provides similar services to the other high street banks."

    Bank Giro Credit
    "A system operated by the clearing banks in which a paper slip/document instructs a bank branch to credit a sum of money to a specified account at that branch.

    A paper instrument addressed to a bank branch instructing it to credit a specified sum of money to a named account at that branch. A bank giro credit is not a payment instrument, i.e. it cannot be used on its own to make a payment but must be accompanied by cash or cheque.

    By bank giro credit using the slips provided. Banks and building societies may make a charge for the acceptance of a bank giro credit unless an account is held either by the payer or the payee. To avoid this charge you are advised to pay at your own bank."

    peter999
  • Dialyt
    Dialyt Posts: 6 Forumite
    OK I read the earlier posts, but I still don't understand what bank giro credit is or why I would even need to use it.

    I'll start at the beginning.

    I was with Halifax. I switched to Ulster Bank, part of RBS Group, since they were offering £150 if you switch your account over.

    This morning I received a cheque book and a credit book. I know what cheques are and how to use them. I do not understand this credit book. It is full of 'bank giro credits'.

    I don't understand. What are they, and what are they for?

    How do you use them?

    When would you need to use them?

    What is the point of them when we have cheques, debit card payments, and direct debits?

    Is there any advantage to using them?

    Please help!
  • peter999
    peter999 Posts: 7,097
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    Dialyt wrote: »
    OK I read the earlier posts, but I still don't understand what bank giro credit is or why I would even need to use it.

    I do not understand this credit book. It is full of 'bank giro credits'.

    I don't understand. What are they, and what are they for?

    How do you use them?

    When would you need to use them?

    What is the point of them when we have cheques, debit card payments, and direct debits?

    Is there any advantage to using them?

    Please help!
    They are Pay-In slips for crediting money to the specified account.

    You can pay-in money to your account with your credit book or pay bills with the bank giro credit payment slips you receive on your bills.

    peter999
  • peter999 wrote: »
    They are Pay-In slips for crediting money to the specified account.

    You can pay-in money to your account with your credit book or pay bills with the bank giro credit payment slips you receive on your bills.

    peter999

    I'm sorry but this doesn't explain it for me.

    I am looking at my book of bank giro credits right now. What appears on them are the following: my bank's name, my bank account details and my name, a space for cashiers stamp, fee box, and a section for listing 'notes large, notes £20, bronze, total cash, cheques, POs' etc...

    Do I give these bank giro credit slips to people who owe me money? Why not just ask for a cheque or cash?

    There is no space on them to fill in a utilities company account details or anything like that.

    Please explain this to me like you were explaining it to a baby!
  • Additionally, when I was with Halifax, if I wanted to lodge money in my account, I simply handed the cashier my visa debit account card for my account, and the cash. They gave me a receipt. There was no need for bank giro credit slips!
  • Mikeyorks
    Mikeyorks Posts: 10,369
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    As they're pre-filled (with your account details) ... they are purely for paying cash / cheques into your account. And are much (because of pre-printing) safer than you completing a paying in slip manually.

    Had you still been with Halifax you would just have used your Debit Card for paying in. The cashier swipes the card - it brings up your account - and your credits are paid in safely without the risk of them going into the wrong account.

    The pre-filled payment slips are the next best thing to paying in with a Debit Card. The very worst are blank paying in slips that you complete manually - bad figures etc can lead to some credits going to the wrong account.

    So - what you have is a book of paying in slips simply targetting your current account.. 'Bank Giro' is just an internal method of routing credits between the Banks. Other methods are 'National Giro' for GiroBank / BACS / CHAPS etc.
    If you want to test the depth of the water .........don't use both feet !
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