If you owe your bank a hundred pounds, you have a problem. But if you owe a million, it has. John Maynard Keynes, a British economist.
We use many different banking products. Most of us have a current account at the local branch of one of the big high-street banks; for writing cheques, paying by debit card and paying bills. Other accounts include a joint account, owned by two or more persons and common abroad, and a giro account. The latter is not a standard banking product outside Croatia and is normally opened at a post office. Normally, everyone’s is trying to be in the black, but sometimes you spend more money than you have in the account; this is called overdraft and it is agreed by the bank, but you pay a high interest rate on it. You are then in the red or, to put it differently, you are overdrawn. With standing orders, you give the bank a written instruction asking it to make regular payments of a fixed amount of money from your account.
Most people have one or more credit cards. Buying with plastic is very convenient, but the interest rate is even higher than for overdrafts. If you want, your bank will send you a monthly bank statement, which should be free of charge. If you want to check your account, transfer money to other accounts and pay bills, but you don’t want to waste time in the black, at a bank, there is telephone banking and internet banking, which allow you to keep on top of what is happening to your money at all times. Other banking products include different types of loans and insurance and investment products and services.
