"Not to be used as a bank giro credit"

brianfall

Short version of this question:

I want to pay a cheque into my co-op account at the post office, but my cheque book has ran out of paying in slips. I have just found what looks like a paying in slip in my drawer, but it says "NOT TO BE USED AS A BANK GIRO CREDIT" on it. It does not have my bank details, but has spaces for me to enter my sort code and account number etc.

My question is - if it looks like a paying in slip, but it can't be used as one, then what exactly can it be used for?

Long version of this question:

I want to pay a cheque into my co-op account at the post office, but my cheque book has ran out of paying in slips. I have just found what looks like a paying in slip in my drawer, but it says "NOT TO BE USED AS A BANK GIRO CREDIT" on it.

At the top it says:

"ONLY FOR ACCOUNTS HELD WITH THE CO-OPERATIVE BANK PLC"

Then there are spaces for me to enter the following information:

Date
Branch
Customer's account
Paid in by
Sort code
Account number
Amount paid in (in a variety of denominations, with a separate box for cheques/POs)

It does not have my bank details already on it, like paying in slips at the back of my chequebook had.

I've googled "Bank Giro Credit" and found a definition that says "Bank giro credits (BGCs) are used by customers to pay cash or cheques into a bank account."

My question is - if it looks like a paying in slip, but it can't be used as one, then what exactly can it be used for?

JuicyJesus

I'm extremely pleased for you.

brianfall

oops sorry I'd not finished writing my post before accidentally posting it

sleepymans

I may be wrong but I think what you have could have been used as a deposit slip...for paying into your own bank account, but Not to request payment from your account to another account.

But I’m not sure if banks still use them???

brianfall

so I could use it to pay a cheque into my account at the post office?

EarthBoy

It might mean that it could be used in a Co-op Bank branch to pay direct into a Co-op Bank account, but couldn't be used at a different bank to pay into a Co-op Bank a/c through the bank giro system.

brianfall

Wikipedia says "A giro, or giro transfer, is a payment transfer from one bank account to another bank account and instigated by the payer, not the payee."

So maybe I couldn't use this strange form to pay money from my account into someone else's account, but I can use it to pay a cheque into my own?

EarthBoy

The Post Office website says that to pay cheques into a Co-operative Bank account you need a "personalised" paying in slip. If it's not pre-printed with your bank account details, then I'd say it wasn't a personalised paying in slip.

https://www.postoffice.co.uk/branch-banking-services#cooperativebank

brianfall

so maybe you're right then it can only be used at a co-op branch. which is weird, because at the branch you can use your card to pay in a cheque!

EarthBoy

How long have you had the blank paying in slip? It might date from before the time when you could pay in with just your debit card?

brianfall

Possibly. I'm just off an online chat with someone from the co-op. He said that a bank giro credit is "a paper slip addressed to a bank instructing to pay a credit card" and that I can use this mysterious form to pay a cheque in at the post office as long as my sort code and account number are clearly visible on it.