The evening times., 1901-05-06

Trust Companies More ACComm OdHt-
ing Than Downtown institutions.
waEc-caruers Have No OpDOrtu-
nifty OF DepOSitinC Their Savings
NEW YORK, May 6.-"Banks. banks,
everywhere. and not a bank to bank in
was the complaint the other day of a
young man who had spent several hours
in Wall Street and lower Broadway seek
( ing place where he could put hun
GTed dollars or so which he had been saw
ing up for a month or two in order to
! open what he believed would be a re-
! spectacle account in some bank down
town. He was a clerk in one Of the tail
est buildings below Cortlandt Street, and
/ before he came TO New York from up the
State six months ago he had enjoyed the
/ luxury of a bank account which ne usea
/ partly as a savings fund and partly for
! convenience
what's the troubIe?' asked d sympa-
/ thetic friend.
Why. the banks won't take my money
have been to seven or eight this morn
( ing trying to deposit 800 in order to start
an account But ell the banks tell me
! the same story They are very sorry
/ but they can't accept any accounts where
/ the average daily balance is under $500
while several fairly took my breath away
by saying they didn't care TO bother with
anything under 81. 600. One bank gave out
the information that personal accounts
/ were not accepted at all
'-One cashier was very polite and ready
! when l told him through the grating that
/ had come to open an account. At once
/ he invited me back into his private Office
/ Whom can you get TO identify you and
yOUch fOT2' was his first question 1 gave
/ him the name Of my employer, who was
/ already a large depositor there, and he
said that would be . satisfactory refer
! ence. But when 1 told him my first de-
! post would be 800 you should have seen
/ his face change, likewise his manner. It's
/ a rule of ours, he said, with haUteUr al
/ most freezing, to open no account for less
/ than $780, and we can't break it
! At another place I was told by the
/ bank s secretary that if my average daily
/ balance fell below $500 they would have to
make a slight charge, something like two
| dollars month, to cover the cost Of keep
! ing up the account. clerk hire. etc. This
was the last straw, and again I backed
/ out saying l couldn't decide just then,
/ but would see meaning by that that I
would see him very far away before pay
/ ing lis bank s. a month to keep 800 for
/ me"
/ Anent this young mans pCediCament, a
! reporter started to find out where people
/ of very moderate means do their bank
! ing. After a few enquiries in Wall Street
/ and lower Broadway institutions he was
/ sure ii wasn't there Most of them had a
minimum limit on accounts, though X was
/ not always a hard and fast one II a man
well introduced and who gave promise OF
/ soon becoming a profitable customer of
/ the bank-both as depositcr and a boT-
rOwer-appiied to open Z small account
I in almost any downtown bank he would
( be accommodated after some preliminaries
Z had been gone through But for g man
/ who would neither a borrower nor a
/ lender be-" and whose account would not
average $500 the year round the banks
( have little use, because they have all they
! can attend to of large accounts-that is,
! where there is an average daily balance
/ of $4,000 or S200 600.
The National Bank of the Republic pIac-
es a minimum limit of 81. 90 on accounts;
the Chemical National, $500 10 8, 900, Ma
] tionai Park, 1890 for active and $500 for
inactive Seventh National. $500 Chatham
I National. $403: Nassau State, 1900 to $500;
First National. no personal accounts,
large or small, wanted" The big trust
Z companies down town are more conde-
{ scending in that they Will open accounts
/ Of from $500 to $3.50 average balance. but
/ only one pays interest on all balances
and most viii not pay on less than 500,
some even holding the minimum at 8 600.
Interest, when paid, is , per cent
" ell II you take nothing under 81 g09-
&here. pray. do persons of small means
do their bankiugg' was asked.
/ "Oh. there are few places down town
where man can open an account for
G2GG but not many Up town. however,
: il IS different. There small banks and
! trust companies abound. and the chief
part of their business is in keeping small
accounts discounting notes, etc. They
can do this because in some cases they.
pay starvation wages to their clerks and
work them overtime besides. sometimes
as low as so a week At this rate the
keeping of accounts IS not a very expen-
sive business Still I don't see how such
banks manage TO keep up