When a new deposit receipt is required by a customer, or he desires a renewal of an old one for a less or for a greater amount, or fur the same amount, the bank's form of applica tion for a deposit receipt should be filled up with the date, the amount, and the name and address of the depositor, and be signed by the applicant.
If a deposit receipt is to be issued in the names of more than one person, the applica tion form should state whether repayment is to be made on the indorsement of only one of the depositors, or whether all must sign. If it is to he repayable to one or more of a number, that fact should be written upon the receipt, and a note made in the deposit register.
When a deposit receipt is issued in joint names, on the death of one of the depositors the money may be withdrawn by the sur vivor. The executors of a deceased joint depositor may, however, give notice to a banker not to repay a deposit receipt to the survivor, even if the receipt is drawn " repayable to either or survivor." Where the joint depositors are husband and wife, if the money is to be repaid to the wife after the husband's death the words repayable to either or survivor," should be written on the receipt. (See JoINT Ac Where a receipt in joint names is not " repayable to either," all the parties must indorse it, and where payment is requested by one of the joint depositors, he should, as stated above, be furnished with a written authority from the others to obtain the money.
If a depositor is unable to write, his mark is required by most bankers to be witnessed by two persons, one of whom should, if possible, be an outside individual who is well known to the banker, and the other may be an official of the bank.
No part of the amount for which a deposit receipt has been given should be paid unless the receipt is produced.
Where a deposit receipt is left as security with the banker who issued it, the depositor's indorsement should be obtained and a letter or memorandum taken, stating the purpose for which it has been lodged. In some cases a cheque signed by the depositor and made payable to the banker may be taken with advantage.
If a customer has both a current account and a deposit receipt, and his account becomes overdrawn the banker is quite justified in regarding the deposit receipt as a set off, and he can refuse to pay the receipt so long as it is necessary for him to hold the amount against the overdraft. If the
customer becomes bankrupt, the banker's lien is not affected. A note of any overdraft should be made against the entry in the deposit register.
In the case of a receipt which is subject to a specified notice, interest ceases at the expiration of the notice.
Receipts which are issued subject to several days' notice are commonly paid without the notice being required.
A fixed deposit is one where the money is left with the banker for a certain fixed period, and for which a better rate of interest can be allowed than if the money were repayable on demand or at a few days' notice. \Vhen fixed deposits are issued a record should be kept of them in a diary under the date when they are due to be repaid. Income Tax is deducted from fixed deposits. Deposits of this nature are most common in foreign and colonial banks.
A receipt issued at one branch should not, as a rule, be paid at another branch, unless advice has been received from the issuing branch to pay it. It should be forwarded for collection and credit of proceeds.
A banker generally endeavours to avoid issuing a deposit receipt which bears any reference to a trust.
Deposit receipts are often issued in the names of minors, and it is understood that a minor may give a good discharge for the money. In the case of a current account in a minor's name, an overdraft should certainly not be allowed.
It is very necessary that a deposit receipt be indorsed by the depositor when it is being renewed, for if it should be renewed in another name by someone not entitled to transfer it, the banker may find himself liable both for the new receipt and for the amount of the undischarged old receipt.
\Vhen a receipt is presented for payment it should, before being paid, be compared with the register of receipts to see that it agrees in all particulars with the entry therein, that the amount is still outstanding, and that no note of a lien or charge of any kind is recorded against it. For better identification, if necessary, of the depositor, his indorsement on the receipt may be com pared with the specimen signature which would be taken when the depositor originally lodged the money. The depositor's indorse ment, or receipt, must be across a penny adhesive stamp, or two halfpenny stamps, unless the deposit is already impressed with a stamp in readiness for the depositor's receipt.