Checkbook

  

A blast from the past...checkbooks are little books or folders that hold checks, which are paper promissory notes that people can write out. Yes, written on the skin of dead trees. Paper. Checks were the ancient method of paying for things without cash. Before Paypal, before credit cards got super easy to get and to use, people used checks.

Checks are linked to bank accounts and when cashed, the amount is withdrawn from the account. The idea is similar to a debit card (actually debit cards are more modern versions of checks, but we'll deal with this looking backward in time), but it takes longer to process and involves paper.

In the old days, before the banks did all the math for you online, you had to "balance" your checkbook. Balancing the checkbook was the process of subtracting all the written checks or other debits, and adding all the deposits, into the account balance. Yes, you did it by hand, writing numbers and doing math using a pen or pencil in a little book of lined paper included in the checkbook.

Related or Semi-related Video

Finance: What is a Routing Number?20 Views

00:00

finance a la shmoop what is a routing number of a routing number is so that

00:09

wired monies can you know like find their way home yeah think of them like [maze game]

00:14

the smell of worm to Canadian geese when you write a check or wire money or do [worms and Canadian geese]

00:20

almost anything financial these days the dough is given a kind of custom [card getting swiped]

00:24

electronic signature and basically a number a big fat one like this one yeah

00:29

and the numbers mean specific things like on a paper check the routing of the

00:34

dough you're paying to Lana sim for um you know services rendered comes in two [breakdown of a check]

00:41

pieces there's a nine digit routing number aka our TN aka routing transit

00:48

number which is here and that number is then mapped to your specific account

00:53

number which is here why did you need this number why do you need it at all

00:58

well when you suddenly see an item on your bank statement for a payment of [bank statement document]

01:02

$350 to Yamaka supply limited and you're about as Jewish as the Pope well you may [Pope Francis in the Vatican]

01:09

want your bank to be able to track that sucker down because it was fraud on your

01:13

account I'd like to be able to prove that you were not in fact the one who

01:16

authorized that payment so your bank can refund you you know your hard-earned

01:21

cash all right there we go much better yeah I am

Up Next

Finance: What is a CUSIP Number?
119 Views

What is a CUSIP Number? All publicly tradable equities and fixed income securities in North America have 9 digit ID code numbers that are registere...

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)