Question about bank forms

Ok, I'm just going to come out and ask a stupid question because it's easier for me to look like an idiot online than in person.  I've been in the UK for a few months now and, despite having an HSBC account, I've been living off the travelers cheques I brought over with me.  However, now I have to pay my fees for my bank account so need to pay some money in, and I have no idea how to fill out this bank giro credit form.  For instance, on the right is a table where it has 50 pound notes followed by 2 boxes.  If I wanted to deposit fifty pounds, do I write 50 / 00 in the boxes?  Or just 1 / only if it's a single 50 pound note?  Is the total amount written 50.00 or are there fractions involved?  And below the printed account info, there is "Paid in by," so do I sign my name, print it, what?  I know, pretty pathetic.  I've lived a sheltered life.

Meanwhile, I've had this account for over a month and still haven't received a bank card, so should probably check on that.

Funny, I just went through this!

You write the total amount on the box...  If it is 1 £50 note you would write 50 in the left box and -- in the right box (noting 00 pence, the write a long dash for some reason, the teller corrected mine the first time I did it).

Just print your name on the Paid in By.

HSBC tends to deliver the card by special courier now, they probably tried to send it to and should have posted you a letter stating you weren't there and to call to schedule a re-delivery (this just happened with my account, it took about 7 days for me to get my card, so a month sounds like a long time.  They can deliver it to your Branch where you can pick it up.  If they couldn't get a hold of you that is maybe what they did.

Thanks so much!  Yeah, they sent the deposit slips and such to my address in the US, but I'm pretty sure they never sent the card there.  I should have checked on that sooner, but haven't had much use for it until now.

I never fill in deposit slips.  If you give them the money and the account number or your card  (when you get it) they do the rest.

Ooooh... never thought about that.  I always over complicate things!  Good advice Britwife!

Here's an example of how I would complete a slip.  Assume here that I'm despositing the following:

 6 x £20 notes
 5 x £10 notes
 1 x  £5 note
18 x £1 coins
 9 x  50p. coins
56 x 10p. coins
50 x 2p. coins
50 x 1p. coins
  1 x check for £173.25

in the right box (noting 00 pence, the write a long dash for some reason, the teller corrected mine the first time I did it).

It's a standard accounting practice to use a dash for zero pence.  It makes for faster addition when totting up the pence column as your eyes tend to skip over the dashes more quickly.   (Dashes were also used for zero back in the old LSD days when there were three columns to add up.)

I still don't understand how you folks ever survived with fractional £!  It must have been totally frustrating!

Also there is a chance that they sent your card/pin number to your US address if you used that information to open an account. I had that happen to me when I opened my HSBC account last year - not with my debit card but with my HSBC mastercard. For reasons unknown, random bits of important account information are still being sent to the US and I picked up a bunch of it when I was in the US last week.

Thanks for the example Paul..I've always wondered about the dash..Up until recently, I've always used decimal points..Seems easier and less confusion to use the dashes.

Toodlepip..I know exactly what you mean..The first time I wrote a check here, I filled it in the way I did in the US, and the shop assistant screamed at me, ''You'll have to write another check, I don't know what this means!'' I was very embarrassed. Still, the lady could have been nicer about it..

I still don't understand how you folks ever survived with fractional £! 

If you can work in feet and inches, you can work in shillings and pence. 

The first time I wrote a check here, I filled it in the way I did in the US, and the shop assistant screamed at me, ''You'll have to write another check, I don't know what this means!''

What did you do that she didn't like? 

What did you do that she didn't like? 

When I wrote how much the cheque was for:

Twenty pounds and 67/100 pence only________

It seemed okay to me..

When I wrote how much the cheque was for:

Twenty pounds and 67/100 pence only________ 

Hmmm...  Technically that would be £20.0067 rather than £20.67.

I'd write that amount as "Twenty  67/100 pounds_________," which is a little different from the way that most people here would do it these days, but I've never had any check written that way queried before.

You could find someone at the branch of your bank who looks approachable and ask them to explain how to write a cheque:

1. Always write the amount but not the pennies in words, so the cheque described would be 'Twenty Pounds & 67 pence Only'

2. Note you MUST state the currency (unlike in the US where the word 'dollars' is preprinted)

3. Always write the word ONLY after the numbers to stop someone changing your figures.

4. Never use the 'memo' space, but alway write on the back instead.

3. Always write the word ONLY after the numbers to stop someone changing your figures.

Must you write "ONLY" - I mean, is it a legal thing, or just customary?  In the US, I always wrote my checks as

"Twenty dollars and 67/xx ---------------------------------- $20.67 (in the little box)"

and I've never had anyone attempt to alter the amount specified.  Would adapting this method for the UK work, as in

"Twenty pounds and 67/xx (or 67/100)-----------------------(end of line)"

or would I run the risk of hostile mockery, like poor msbojangles?