Giro

A giro (/ˈdʒaɪroʊ, ˈʒɪəroʊ/), or giro transfer, is a payment transfer from one bank account to another bank account and initiated by the payer, not the payee. The debit card has a similar model. Giros are primarily a European phenomenon; although electronic payment systems such as the Automated Clearing House exist in the United States and Canada, it is not possible to perform third party transfers with them. In the European Union, there is the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) which allows electronic giro or debit card payments in euros to be executed to any euro bank account in the area. A giro (/ˈdʒaɪroʊ, ˈʒɪəroʊ/), or giro transfer, is a payment transfer from one bank account to another bank account and initiated by the payer, not the payee. The debit card has a similar model. Giros are primarily a European phenomenon; although electronic payment systems such as the Automated Clearing House exist in the United States and Canada, it is not possible to perform third party transfers with them. In the European Union, there is the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) which allows electronic giro or debit card payments in euros to be executed to any euro bank account in the area. In the United Kingdom and in other countries the term giro may refer to a specific system once operated by the post office. In the UK, the giro service was originally known as National Giro. In due course 'giro' was adopted by the public and the press as a shorthand term for the girocheque, which was a cheque and not a credit transfer. Meanwhile, there were Bank Giro Credits, which were instructions to credit a particular bank account: these were not instructions to debit another account, so they had to be accompanied with cash or cheques, and they could be used both for bill payments and as paying-in slips; when used for paying bills they were often free-of-charge to the payer when used at the payer's or payee's bank but with an administration charge at other banks. The use of cheques and paper giros is now in decline in many countries in favour of electronic payments, which are thought to be faster, cheaper and safer due to the reduced risk of fraud. The word 'Giro' is also used in Investment Giro, where 'Giro' is used for a non-bank, administrative account on which investments and transactions are registered. The word Giro in this context has its origin in the Netherlands. Giro is used in names like: Investment Giro, Investor Giro, Securities Giro, and in Dutch for Beleggers giro, Beleggingsgiro and is used as synonymous for Investments or Investors administrations,Transfer Agents Services or for the Dutch 'Bewaarinstelling'. Read More Investment Giro The word 'giro' is borrowed from Dutch 'giro' and/or German 'giro', which are both from Italian 'giro' meaning 'circulation of money'. The Italian term comes via Latin 'gyrus' meaning 'gyre' from the Greek 'gyros' meaning 'circle'. Giro systems date back at least to Ptolemaic Egypt in the 4th century BC. State granary deposits functioned as an early banking system, in which giro payments were accepted, with a central bank in Alexandria. Giro was a common method of money transfer in early banking. The first occurrences of book money are not known exactly. The giro system itself can be traced back to the 'bancherii' in Northern Italy, especially on the Rialto (a financial center, resembling the modern day Wall Street). Originally these were money changers sitting at their desk ('bancus' = bench) that customers could turn to. They offered an additional service to keep the money and to allow direct transfer from one money store to another by checking the accounts in their storage books. Literally they opened one book, withdrew an amount, opened another book where the amount was added. This handling was naturally a very regional system but it allowed the money to circulate in the books. This led finally to the foundation of the 'Banco del Giro' in 1619 (in Venetian language, Banco del Ziro) which gave the blueprint for similar banking systems. The usage in German language can be seen in the Banco del Giro founded in Vienna in 1703 (to extend the financing business that Samuel Oppenheimer had brought from Venice in 1670). Postal giro or postgiro systems have a long history in European financial services. The basic concept is that of a banking system not based on cheques, but rather by direct transfer between accounts. If the accounting office is centralised, then transfers between accounts can happen simultaneously. Money could be paid in or withdrawn from the system at any post office, and later connections to the commercial banking systems were established, often simply by the local bank opening its own postgiro account.