This section is from the "How To Get Ahead - Saving Money And Making It Work" book, by Albert W. Atwood. Also see Amazon: How To Get Ahead - Saving Money And Making It Work.
RARELY does any man achieve business success without first forming a strong and close association with a carefully selected bank. Likewise a bank-account is the initial step toward the fruitful investment of money. The bank comes first in the whole industrial and commercial system - and it is just as necessary to the individual as to the civilization in which it works.
These are no idle words - this advice to young men to form an affiliation with a strong bank. If there were any way of tabulating the countless disappointments of life, the business failures, the bitter struggles to achieve impossible commercial results, all because of ignorance of what banks require of borrowers or unwillingness to measure up to their reasonable requirements - if all this could be presented in a few words, it might make an impression that no mere advice can make. My own personal correspondence has been filled with bitter complaints from disappointed seekers of capital, letters which would never have been composed if their writers had formed a banking connection.
It may be objected that this book is being written not for borrowers of money, but for savers and investors. My answer is that the bank is absolutely necessary to them as well. A banking connection is of value to any one, whether he does business or not, because such an affiliation gives a man a better standing in his community, in business and out of it. The man who pays his bills promptly and has a little money in the bank, no matter how little, provided it is not such a small sum as to be a nuisance to the bank, has something he can call his own and owes to nobody. The mere fact that he has it is always considered prima facie evidence of good standing. His credit is better than the man's who has no bank-account.
No man should tie up all his money in the various forms of investments, no matter how safe. Life-insurance, a home, mortgages, bonds - these are all very well in their place, but there's nothing like real ready money as an evidence of independence and prosperity. It is well to have plenty of cash immediately available, for no one can foresee the need of it. There are many urgent calls for money in every man's life, and a bank deposit is far easier to get at than most investments.
But the fact is that very few persons go through life without wanting to borrow money first or last. They may need it to tide them over a period of unemployment or illness. More often they want a small loan to take advantage of a favorable business opening. Now to become a bank depositor is a simple process. The best way to open an account is to get a personal or written introduction from some one who is already a depositor. In a small town an introduction may not be necessary, because a hardworking, thrifty, steady young man is pretty sure to be known by hearsay at least to the bank officers. If you are a total stranger to the bank, you will create a good impression and save trouble by having this clause appear in the letter of introduction: "Whose signature appears below for purposes of identification." Below the body of the letter, the following should appear: "Mr.___________________'s signature, for purposes of introduction."
Often it is not necessary to appear in person to open a bank-account. Numerous institutions transact a banking business by mail, including several of the largest and strongest concerns in this country. It saves time and is absolutely safe. Even where you live in the same town it is often convenient to deposit checks by mail. A bank-account may be conducted by mail no matter where a person lives. Millions of dollars travel back and forth in perfect safety.
If it is desired to deposit money by mail it can be sent without being registered in the form of post-office or express money order, bank draft or check, provided the check is endorsed on the back as follows:
Pay to the order of the First National Bank.
Sign your name.
Cash or coupons should not be sent by mail, although bills may go that way if registered. Withdrawals may be made just as conveniently. The signature on the letter is sufficient identification, because the bank compares it with the signature on file at its offices.
The First Thing A Depositor In A Bank Should Learn is how to draw a check. The American Bankers' Association has explained the right way in very simple language. In the first place, it is stated, the figures should be plainly made, so that no question can arise as to the amount. If a figure is carelessly made, so that it con-fuses those who handle the check, numberless hours of work may follow. For instance, if a bank receives a check for $1.88 with a poor "8," and a clerk lists it as $1.08, it may take many hours' time to find the difference, and the entire day's work may have to be gone over. The rule should be: never make a figure that may be mistaken and never pass one that is in doubt - correct it by crossing out the bad and making a good one alongside.
The words and figures should agree. The law says that if the two are different, the written words govern, but make both carefully and get them alike.
Begin the writing well to the left of the writing space and fill in the unused space with a wavy line. Begin the figures well up against the $ sign and make the character 00/00 after, but close up against the figures. Use a good black ink and write firmly, so that plenty of ink gets into the fiber of the paper.
 
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