The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1901-10-01
OPENING AN ACCOUNT
THE BUSINESS BANKING METHODS
OF THE METROPOLIS.

More Trouble to Get Money In
Bank at First Than 1t Is to Get 1t
Out-AccommOdating a Customer.
Women as DepOsitOrs.
To do business in New York one should
have at least an Office and a bank ac-
count. If he can only have one of these,
it should be the latter. The business
man may have his Office in his hat, he
may carry his papers about with him in
his pockets or in a bag, and his CORE
spondence may be written on paper of the
"highly respectable" kind in hotel and
other public writing rooms, but he must
have bank account, and his choice of
a bank is q serious matter. There are
certain banks which are favored by par
ticular lines of business, and while they
do not confine their activities to any one
branch to the exclusion of others they
like to be known as dry goods" IMAM
ufacturers' " or foreign exchange" head
quarters.
The man without a bank is likely to
open an account with a bank in which
there are other concerns in his line of
business, but he is swayed less by that
consideration than by his estimate of the
bank and of its management. The names
of the board of directors are studied, and
then, the new customer Is introduced to
an officer of the bank, who usually asks
him how large an account he intends to
place. An outline statement of the bust
ness is given, the newcomer convinces
the bank authorities that his is legiti-
mate business, he is told that he must
keep a certain amount on deposit, and
when the bank and the new customer
have agreed ON all points the first de-
post is received, signature recorded in
the book kept for that purpose, the new
man becomes a customer and the next
day speaks of the Milk and Water bank
as my bank"
In order that the customer may be
accommodated" with loan the deposit
in most banks must not go below the
81 900 mark. When a man has had his
first note discounted, he advances to
higher degree in the list of bank patrons.
AS his business increases he may require
more Accommodation" than the Milk and
Water can give him, and he opens an ac-
count elsewhere, giving the new bank
part of his deposits and receiving sac
commodation" in return.
AS the business develops new bank &C.
counts are opened, and a concern need
not be a large one to have four or five
bank accounts. They are not always con-
fined to New York. Banks in New Jer-
sey and Philadelphia often receive part
of the metropolitan concerns deposits
and also attend to the collection bust
ness and by renting in New York ex-
change save their New York customer
exchange expense.
There are many business concerns in
which the idea prevails that the banks
consider it an accommodation to them to
be asked to discount their customers
paper This is great mistake" said
the cashier of one of the largest banks in
New York. "When we make loan, we
accommodate the customer only. We can
find profitable outlets for our funds with
out going to the business houses"
The bank officials in most instances
know only one or two men of a concern,
but they are usually posted on the finan-
cial condition of their customers. The in
dcations by which they judge are the de-
posits, their amount and their character
whether they are made up of customers
checks or money that does not represent
merchandise sold, by the way in which
maturing paper is met and in the case of
manufacturing concerns by the amount
drawn for the pay roll. Nearly all large
manufacturing concerns furnish their
banks with a list of the style of cur
rency wanted on pay day, and when the
check is presented the teller knows how
many bills of each denomination to give,
how much specie and in what kind Of
coin. Some concerns furnish this list on
Friday, so that when the messenger goes
to the bank on Saturday he finds the
money all ready for him.
There are thousands of bank customers
who never ask for a favor beyond that of
handling their money. They open an ac
count because they like to pay their bills
by checks. Some years ago they would
not have aspired to bank account. That
was In the days when only rich men
wrote checks. But riches and bank ac
counts do not necessarily go together
now, and any person who wishes to do so
may now find banking concern to han
die his earnings. The little depositors
give the banks little trouble beyond that
which goes with receiving the deposits
and paying the checks as they come to
the bank. Salaried men, small shop
keepers, executors of estates and women
belong to this large class of bank Gus
toners.
at costs US about Sc year to keep an
account" said bank president, "and for
that reason we tell our customers when
they open an account that we expect
them to keep at least $3.50 or 5000 on de-
post But they don't always do it, and
we don't hold them up to it. Our busl-
ness is like all others in one respective
want to make customers, and. having
made them, we want to keep them, and if
a deposit dwindles down to within a few
points of nothing we say nothing, because
really there is little work connected with
the account, and every customer of that
kind helps to advertise u.s. Even a de-
post of 5000 will not net US the amount
of the cost of keeping the account, be
cause we can use only rs per cent of the
money deposited with us. The remaining
25 per cent must be put in the vaults in
cash"
1--WE know the financial plan on which
many households are rum" said bank
officer, land lots of other things that are
secrets to the rest of the world, and the
women know that we appreciate that
these are secret matters, that we say
nothing and just attend to business.
These are not secrets confded to us by
words, but they come to us by way Of
the deposit slips. The woman who de-
posits 500 every week and draws checks
in favor of the butcher, the baker and
the candlestick maker and never check
for store account shows that the 800
is her table allowance Occasionally the
500 check does not come, but instead
there is deposit of cash $40 or $40
short Whether the difference went to
charity or to pay bill contracted on the
sly no one knows. but the table probably
falls short that amount"-New York
Tribune.