Unit Two

Opening an Account

Part A Background Information

Commercial banks provide savings services to customers and those savings are one of the primary sources of funds for the banks.Banks offer many different accounts to their customers.In general, bank accounts can be classified as two categories, current account and fixed account.

Current account is also called a checking account in the West.Normally we use the term current or demand when we talk about a checking account maintained by a business firm.Anybody, either a firm or an individual, may open a current account.But in the West, people often call individual accounts personal checking accounts.That’s just a different name for the same thing.

The balances in the current accounts are subject to withdrawals on demand.However, a fixed account requires notice to the bank, usually seven days before the depositor has a right to make a withdrawal.In normal practice, banks usually waive notice and allow immediate withdrawals.