If the checks are regular, they are handed to assistants to sort according to the ledger headings and to prepare for listing. The number of daily over-the-window deposits in a large bank reaches into the hundreds and the number of items into the thousands. Speed and accuracy at running and listing them become highly essential. The practice is to handle them by the "batch," or "block," method; when a suitable number of deposits have been received, a "batch" is made and sorted, say, as follows: clearing house checks (with subdivisions based on clearing house numbers), checks against the bank itself (checks drawn by domestic and foreign depositors), "sights" (sight and demand drafts), "trust companies" (items against trust companies not members of the clearing house), "small countries" (small checks for less, say, than $50o against out-of-town banks and larger checks on up-town banks), "large countries" (out-of-town items of large amount that are sent from the transit department the same day as received), and cash (received in different deposits in the batch). The packages of these batches are listed separately and their aggregate must equal that of the deposit tickets contained in the batch. It is essential for the men to know the routing of these checks at a glance, in order to get the work out with despatch and accuracy.
Occasionally differences occur either in listing the separate packages or in the deposit tickets; this necessitates a review of all items listed. If the mistake is not found in this way, a check-off is in order—a tedious task. When a correction is made in a de posit ticket, the depositor is notified.
When the batches prove, an assistant runs off what are called "proof sheets," showing the totals of all items handled in the department. These sheets are ruled to show the kind and dis position of the items. Copies of these sheets are sent to the city collection department and the transit department, which handle the collection of the non-clearing house items. The originals are filed with the receiving teller.
The clearing house checks are passed to clerks who indorse them with the clearing house stamp. This is usually done by an indorsing machine. A package is made up for each subdivision into which the clearing house items are grouped. The checks are then sent to the assembly rack department, where they are sorted and listed according to clearing house numbers, in preparation for the clearing the next morn ing.
Sight drafts and trust companies are stamped with a "Paid" indorsement stamp and, together with the small and large coun tries, are sent to the transit department, where they are analyzed; the sight drafts and trust companies are returned to the receiving teller, who lists them, proves them against the totals on his proof sheet, and turns them over to the city collection department, which presents them for payment at their respective places of payment the day after receipt.
2. Currency. Loose bills and coin are usually counted before the customer leaves the window; but there are instances when a depositor may make a large deposit of bills or coin, in which case the packages or bags are marked with the name and amount and are received subject to count. Mistakes, if any, are rectified, say, the next day. All the money received is charged to the paying teller and the day after receipt is verified by count of the money department.
When a deposit is received and there is money listed on the deposit ticket, the teller checks off the cash and prepares two currency slips, one for use in his cage and the other to accompany the batch in which the deposit is listed. At the end of the day's business a money proof of the amounts taken from these slips is made and proved against the actual amount of cash in the box.
3. Coupons. Coupons are usually deposited in envelopes with the face amount entered on the outside. They are charged and tendered to the coupon collection department.
The Second Teller's Proof The distribution of the items may now be summarized as follows: From the second teller the transit department receives directly the large countries and indirectly, through the city collec tion department, the small countries. The drafts and trust com panies arc also passed through the analysis division of the transit department, where they arc analyzed and are then sent to the city collection department for collection. Checks drawn on the bank itself by foreign and domestic customers are sent to the check desk. The checks on clearing house members are sorted into sections according to clearing house numbers and sent to the assembly rack department. All money received is tendered to the paying teller, and the coupons are turned over to the coupon collection department.
The second teller's proof (Figure 13) is as follows: The deposit tickets received arc listed on sheets divided into sections according to the ledgers of the check desk department, a sheet for each ledger; that is, a sheet contains all entries for the accounts in one ledger. The grand total of these sheets is proved against the total amount charged to deposits on the second teller's proof sheet. To reduce the possibility of errors to a minimum, from time to time during the day the accumulated tickets are passed to the bookkeepers. The tickets ultimately reach the files of the auditing department.