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A demand account (or demand deposit) is a deposit account held at a bank or other financial institution, the funds deposited in which are payable on demand. The primary purpose of demand accounts is to facilitate cashless payment s by means of check, bank draft, direct debit , electronic funds transfer , etc.
A demand account is commonly known as:
1 Checking accounts in the United States
In some cases, checking accounts may pay interest. Checking accounts that pay interest are sometimes referred to as a negotiable order for withdrawal or NOW account in order to differentiate them from the older 'standard' checking account due to rules passed back in the 1930s which prohibited banks from paying interest on checking accounts.
Typically, a the format of a check consists of the date it was written, the party to whom it is payable, the amount that is payable, the identification of the bank it is drawn upon and the account number of that bank, and a signature or other identification indicating the check was authorized by the depositor. There will usually be a series of routing numbers appearing at the bottom of the check, printed using a special type of font called MICR and using magnetic ink so that it can be read by machine.
While in many cases, checks are more and more being displaced by electronic transactions including direct deposit, ATM, check card and credit cardA credit card system is a type of retail transaction settlement and credit system, named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. A credit card is different from a debit card in that the credit card issuer loans the consumer money rathe purchases, billions of checks are still written every year in the United States alone.
2 See also
- Checkable depositIncludes demand deposits, ATS, NOW, and other checkable deposits. See also Money supply External links .
- DepositMain article deposit (bank A deposit is a specific sum of money taken and held on account, by a bank as a service provided for its clients. A financial institution wishing to take deposits are generally required be under financial supervision, and to hold
