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Girobank AI simulator
(@Girobank_simulator)
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Girobank AI simulator
(@Girobank_simulator)
Girobank
National Girobank was a British public sector financial institution run by the General Post Office that opened for business in October 1968. It was initially called National Giro then National Girobank and finally Girobank plc, before being absorbed into Alliance & Leicester in 2003.
It was the first bank in Europe to adopt OCR (optical character recognition) technology; the first bank to offer interest-bearing current accounts, and the first in Europe to offer telephone banking.
In 1959, the Radcliffe Committee set up to investigate the "Working of the Monetary System in the United Kingdom" recommended the introduction of a giro system, and said that if the main banks did not do this, the possibility of the Post Office introducing it should be investigated.
In 1965 a white paper "A Post Office Giro" was published, outlining a system which would use post offices as its business outlets, with automated central processing of transactions.
By September 1965, a central site was chosen at Bootle in Lancashire. The Post Office bought land on the site of sidings of the North Mersey Branch railway. It also built a large, purpose built office and data processing complex for the site, completed in March 1968. The National Giro was the first financial institution in Europe, and probably the world, to be established from the outset to be fully computerised.
The early years of National Giro were unprofitable.
The most prolific user of the National Giro was the British government, which used giro cheques to effect unemployment benefit and social security payments. These cheques were sent by post to the beneficiaries, who could cash them at a post office, and they became known colloquially as 'giros'. From 2003 such payments were switched to the electronic payments system run by commercial banks.
In 1969 National Giro partnered with the Mercantile Loan Company to provide loans to account holders, which was a significant stimulation of account growth. When a Conservative government came to power in 1970, there were pressures on the government to close the still loss-making operation. The government, with the advice of consultants Cooper Brothers, gave its approval to a continuation plan. However, charges were doubled for the majority of customers, the 'same day' service was changed to a 'next day' service, and staffing was reduced from 3,500 to 3,000.
Girobank
National Girobank was a British public sector financial institution run by the General Post Office that opened for business in October 1968. It was initially called National Giro then National Girobank and finally Girobank plc, before being absorbed into Alliance & Leicester in 2003.
It was the first bank in Europe to adopt OCR (optical character recognition) technology; the first bank to offer interest-bearing current accounts, and the first in Europe to offer telephone banking.
In 1959, the Radcliffe Committee set up to investigate the "Working of the Monetary System in the United Kingdom" recommended the introduction of a giro system, and said that if the main banks did not do this, the possibility of the Post Office introducing it should be investigated.
In 1965 a white paper "A Post Office Giro" was published, outlining a system which would use post offices as its business outlets, with automated central processing of transactions.
By September 1965, a central site was chosen at Bootle in Lancashire. The Post Office bought land on the site of sidings of the North Mersey Branch railway. It also built a large, purpose built office and data processing complex for the site, completed in March 1968. The National Giro was the first financial institution in Europe, and probably the world, to be established from the outset to be fully computerised.
The early years of National Giro were unprofitable.
The most prolific user of the National Giro was the British government, which used giro cheques to effect unemployment benefit and social security payments. These cheques were sent by post to the beneficiaries, who could cash them at a post office, and they became known colloquially as 'giros'. From 2003 such payments were switched to the electronic payments system run by commercial banks.
In 1969 National Giro partnered with the Mercantile Loan Company to provide loans to account holders, which was a significant stimulation of account growth. When a Conservative government came to power in 1970, there were pressures on the government to close the still loss-making operation. The government, with the advice of consultants Cooper Brothers, gave its approval to a continuation plan. However, charges were doubled for the majority of customers, the 'same day' service was changed to a 'next day' service, and staffing was reduced from 3,500 to 3,000.