[00:00.00] UNIT 4
[00:27.09]How to Use a Bank
[00:31.63]Integrated Skills Development
[00:37.20]Passage
[00:41.27]Banking Services
[00:45.04]Everyone needs money to buy food, clothes, and housing.
[00:52.90]Very few people can produce everything that they need.
[00:58.54]Today, most people use money to buy these things.
[01:04.39]Buying and selling is necessary for modern society.
[01:10.56]Money is important for life,
[01:15.31]and banks control money in most places.
[01:20.48]In the United States, there are many different banks,
[01:26.13]and they offer many different services.
[01:30.80]The most common banking service is the checking account.
[01:37.57]People deposit their money in the bank,
[01:42.01]and then they can write checks to buy things.
[01:46.68]A check is a piece of paper.
[01:50.94]It tells the bank to pay the seller.
[01:56.11]The bank must pay the seller from the customer's account.
[02:02.36]The customer usually pays the bank
[02:07.22]a service charge for a checking account.
[02:12.57]Another banking service is the savings account.
[02:18.74]People can deposit some of their money in a savings account.
[02:24.48]They do not usually need this money right now.
[02:30.05]They leave the money in the bank and withdraw it when they need it.
[02:36.29]The bank will pay interest on the savings account.
[02:42.25]Interest is the money that the bank gives to the customer.
[02:48.49]Loans are an important banking service.
[02:55.46]Banks give money to businesses and to individuals.
[03:01.03]A bank may loan money to a business to buy more machines or tools.
[03:07.79]Some people borrow money from the bank
[03:12.47]to build swimming pools or to repair their house.
[03:17.43]The bank always charges interest on loans.
[03:23.31]The borrower must repay the loan plus the interest.
[03:29.66]The interest on loans
[03:33.42]is always higher than the interest on savings accounts.
[03:39.17]The credit card is another important service that the bank provides.
[03:47.03]It makes life easier in many ways. By using the credit card,
[03:54.48]people no longer need carry about
[03:58.86]large sums of money while travelling.
[04:03.72]Banks in the United States usually have safe deposit boxes.
[04:11.87]These boxes are in the vault at the bank.
[04:17.44]The vault is a room that has a very heavy door
[04:23.21]with a very safe lock on it.
[04:27.05]Because it is very difficult to get into the vault a bank,
[04:32.82]a safe deposit box is a good place to keep important things.
[04:39.38]Customers can rent the boxes from the bank for a small fee each year.
[04:46.75]Many people keep their important papers,
[04:52.10]such as their birth certificate, marriage certificate,
[04:57.35]or passport, in their safe deposit boxes.
[05:02.81]Some people keep gold,
[05:06.68]silver and valuable gems in their safe deposit boxes.
[05:13.13]Another banking service is the automatic teller machine.
[05:20.29]Many banks have machines outside the bank
[05:25.36]so that customers can get their money any time they want,
[05:31.00]day or night. Customers can deposit or withdraw.
[05:37.95]They can withdraw cash any time —
[05:42.49]if they have money in their accounts.
[05:47.53]Banks control the money. They keep money for people,
[05:54.51]and they give loans. Banks control the interest rate.
[06:01.59]In this way,
[06:04.93]they can control the amount of money for business and individual loans.
[06:12.01]Banks also offer their customers many useful services,
[06:18.07]such as savings and checking accounts and loans.
[06:23.82]In addition,
[06:27.29]banks try to make using money easier with electronic machines.
