Talk:Giro (banking)

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The word "Giro"[edit]

I think the article might be improved with a bit about why it's called a Giro. I have heard the term used in several countries. I would have added it myself if I knew, but I did not, and some Google searches found nothing.... thanks! ++Lar 05:33, 18 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Added information by a different person than the above on September 5, 2006: I'd like to add some information about the historical practical applications of direct deposit, in particular its first uses in modern society. A man named Zaifuddin Yusuf in Bangladesh in the 1950's began using direct deposit to stop his employees from being victimized by muggers and thieves on their way home or to the bank. Yusuf was the first I am aware of to use this method to pay the workers to their banks directly, the money transferring from the employer to the bank account without the need for even a check that the worker carried to the bank.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.206.5.40 (talk) 08:32, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Nothing like a worldwide perspective here. There's not a word about the only use of the term I've ever encountered (being a Brit): the instrument of payment for state benefits. It's basically all abstract theory here; in the UK, a Giro is a physical object that, for many people (poor sad ones that they are) is strongly desired. There's also no mention of the late Girobank, which as far as I recall (and someone who was taking an interest when it was around will probably correct me; I was born in 1980, which means by the time it became potentially relevant to me, Girobank was at best moribund) was a) the source of social security benefits and b) a bank for people who don't have bank accounts with "conventional" banks. However... I'm willing to have a crack at putting such information in, but I'd rather someone who's rather more familiar with the subject matter did so. Good as my memory may be, it's not verifiable, citeable, encyclopaedic or any of the other ideals of the project... 86.11.124.189 18:42, 14 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think this page's title should be switched over to "Direct Deposit" from "Giro", as Direct Deposit is the term the vast majority of banking institutions use. 24.118.142.223 00:56, 1 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Here in Germany, the word "Giro" refers to a particular type of bank accounts - the "Girokonto". A Girokonto is a bank account that people use for their everyday payments (i.e. wire transfers, direct debits, ATM withdrawals and - sometimes - cheques). In fact, a Girokonto is the same as a "checking account", however we hardly use checks, so it wouldn't make sense to speak of a "checking account". The term "giro" does also appear in the word "Girogeld". "Girogeld" is money that a bank can simply create by writing numbers on an account statement of a Giro account. -- 93.104.143.242 (talk) 18:53, 20 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Giro vs. Direct Deposit[edit]

Should this page be named "Direct Deposit" instead of Giro, and Giro replaced with direct deposit in the article? There can be mention that giro is another term for direct deposit, but direct deposit seems more common--and more sensical (it's a direct deposit. What's a giro?). Chiss Boy 12:57, 19 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I would have to agree. Jared (t)  16:15, 23 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Giro and Direct Deposit are different things entirely. Both have in common that they are "push" systems, as opposed to a check or a letter of exchange which are "pull" but the Giro existed long before there was any Electronic Banking or Internet. GS3 (talk) 17:21, 11 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I thought that "direct deposit" was that service where unbanked people bring cash to a bank and the bank sends the money to a bank account that may live at another bank, not an account-to-account transfer. However, I may be wrong about this. -- 93.104.143.242 (talk) 19:04, 20 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

how is this direct deposit at all?[edit]

In the US the term "direct deposit" means nothing more than electronic transfer of funds from the account of the payer to that of the payee. It is often used for wages or benefits, and is usually automated. Its only similarity with the giro system appears to be that it is "push" rather than "pull", but that's pretty much it. There are no slips or cheques involved, and post offices certainly have nothing to do with it. It seems to me that if direct deposit is going to redirect somewhere, it should probably be to electronic funds transfer or Automated Clearing House, as those articles more accurately deal with that topic. Seriously, I can't see how the giro system is at all the same. Can someone explain it?

PS According to the OED the word in this usage comes to English from German, in turn from Italian, meaning "circulation (of money)". If anyone knows of a good place to stick that tidbit into the article, go for it. - Severinus 22:39, 28 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This may be a bit difficult to undestand for an American. In the US, most transactions are done by cheque or through Paypal. In Europe (outside Britain) most transfers are done by "Giro" or "direct transfer". This includes payment of salaries and bills as well as person-to-person payments. For example, if I buy something on German eBay I can make the payment from my Finnish bank using the IBAN bank account number. Unlike Paypal, I do not even have to pay any fees for the payment, except the 1 euro monthly fee to my bank for use of the web services. -- Petri Krohn 23:06, 23 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, Paypal is pretty much just used for online perchases, and then usually only for buying from sellers who are too small to take more traditional methods of payment such as credit cards. (According to the Fed, in 2003 45% of noncash transactions in the US were done by check, 23% by credit card, 20% debit, and only 11% by ACH[1]--and PayPal is but one player in that 11%.) Most e-tail purchases in the US, except those made from sites like ebay, are made with credit or debit cards.
But your general point stands. Americans buy most small purchases with cash, and the rest largely with checks, credit/debit cards. ACH, it seems, is the closest thing we have to the European Giro system, and it's rarely used by individuals. The Fed describes it as follows: "The ACH payment system in the U.S. is similar to the Giro system in Europe, although the latter has been around much longer."[2] In fact, that's pretty much the only direct comparison I've been able to find between giro and an American counterpart.
Based on that description, I'm going to change Direct deposit from a redirect and instead make it a disambiguation page, with a link here for users interested in the European use of the term, and a link to ACH for users interested in the American use.
--Severinus 01:31, 25 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Disambiguation needed[edit]

In the UK, the usual name is Bank Giro. The term Giro is an abbreviation for Girocheque, which is different. Biscuittin (talk) 11:32, 1 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Are we really using UrbanDictionary as a reference?[edit]

Don't you think it's a bit of a stretch to use urbandictionary.com as a reference? Particularly "giro day", Reference #7. Also, reference #9 is a broken link. I'd like to remove both these reference, but that'll invalidate the Cultural Significance section. I've a hard time finding good references for "giro day". It seems to be true though; quite a lot of talk about it in forums, blogs, etc - just that these don't qualify as a reliable source. Anyone more knowledgeable care to substantiate the section? Bunston (talk) 01:50, 10 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Third-party payments in the US[edit]

The article says: "although electronic payment systems such as the Automated Clearing House exist in the United States and Canada, it is not, as yet, possible to perform third party transfers with them." What the heck does this mean? What is a third-party payment? When I need to pay something, I log in to the web site of my bank, enter all the details and send the wire transfer just as I would send an email. This transaction does only involve two parties (or four parties, if you count the paying party, the beneficiary and their respective banks as distinct entities). But three parties? I don't get what the third party is supposed to do here. Escrow? Government surveillance? An intermediate bank that steals part of the amount being transferred? -- 93.104.143.242 (talk) 19:01, 20 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

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"credit account": is this an error?[edit]

Accounting experts, please confirm, before I make an edit.

Ref: "In the postal giro model, the paying party sends a request to pay the payee (called a giro transfer) to the giro centre, which verifies that the funds are available, debits the payer's accounts by the amount requested, and credits that amount to the payee's account."

I think that

"...debits the payer's accounts..."

should read

"...credits the payer's accounts..."

If I understand accounting terminology correctly, a decrease in an asset or increase in a liability is called a "credit", not a "debit". Russell Melaxant 23:05, 28 April 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mcamp@cinci.rr.com (talk • contribs)

@Mcamp@cinci.rr.com: The money is debited (deducted) from the payer's account and credited (deposited) to the payee's accounts. In general, when a payer has funds on deposit, a decrease in their balance is accomplished by debiting their account (hence the card often used to initiate the transaction being called a debit card rather than a credit card), not by crediting it. In a credit card model, a bank or card company extends the use of a line of credit, an asset retained by the company, to their customer, creating or increasing liability on the part of the customer if they use it to pay a merchant. This is not the giro model, in which the customer is using an asset they already possess, merely using giro as a conveyance to accomplish transfer of the asset or a portion of it to another (who credits it against the payer's liability to pay them for goods or services received). General Ization Talk 23:20, 28 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move 17 June 2022[edit]

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: Moved (non-admin closure) >>> Extorc.talk 04:42, 24 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

– This is probably not a primary topic, as the Giro d'Italia is commonly known simply as "Giro" and receives much more traffic. 162 etc. (talk) 20:11, 17 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support per nomination. There are 19 entries listed upon the Giro (disambiguation) page, with no indication that the banking term, which does not appear to be well-known or used in the English-speaking world, holds such importance that it outweighs the combined notability of the remaining 18 entries. —Roman Spinner (talk • contribs) 20:49, 17 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support per nom -- 64.229.88.43 (talk) 02:32, 18 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose. "Giro" used alone primarily means the money transfer system. Giro d'Italia does get more views, especially because of large periodic spikes, but its article would never be titled with only the shorthand "Giro". A quick glance at the English-language sources shows most use the full name even in headlines, and the few that don't always clarify quickly in the body. There's no title conflict with the race and the three or four other uses that are not partial title matches are not significant enough to displace the primary topic.[3] - Station1 (talk) 07:34, 18 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support per nom. Lugnuts Fire Walk with Me 08:54, 18 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support "giro transfer" is also an alternative name for this just like "Giro" is for "Giro d'Italia". Crouch, Swale (talk) 21:23, 21 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
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