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Nowadays many people have a bank account
so when they want some money they go to their local bank,
which is usually open from half past nine
in the morning until about four
in the afternoon. Some people have a deposit account,
but most have a current account so they can pay in money
or take it out when they want.
There is a higher rate of interest
on a deposit account and more charges to pay
on a current account. Banks usually send
a monthly statement to all the people who have an account,
so that they can see how much, or how little money
they have in the bank. If you have a current account
you are given a cheque book, containing a number of cheques.
When you want to pay by cheque, you write the name of the person
or company you want to pay,
the amount you want to pay them, the date and your name,
that is you write your signature, which is a means of identification.
You are also given a plastic cheque card
which you must show when you pay by cheque
and which you can use for obtaining money
from a cash dispenser, which is very convenient
if the banks are closed, if you are in a hurry
or if you are not near your local bank. Banks will also change money,
taking foreign currency and giving the local currency in return,
or giving foreign currency to someone who wants to go abroad.
Yesterday Vanessa went to the bank
because she had run out of British money; she only had
a hundred and thirty American dollars left. "I'd like to change some dollars,
please," she said to the cashier.
She gave him the bills and he checked the most recent rate of exchange.
Then he said, "That will be seventy-eight pounds forty.
How would you like it?" "I'll have one fifty pound note,
two tens, one fiver
and the rest in coins," Vanessa replied.
The cashier counted out the money quickly
and gave it to Vanessa. She counted it out again,
rather more slowly and put it away in her wallet.
"I think I'll have to phone Dad and ask him
to send some more money," she said to herself.
"I don't know where it all goes!"