Deposit

Financial Dictionary -> Banking -> Deposit

A bank deposit is simply the process by which a customer of the bank (or other financial institution) entrusts their money to be held in the bank; whether it be in a savings, current, business or other type of account, until the customer wishes to withdraw that money, depending on the rules surrounding their given account.

To deposit money there are a number of ways, although most individual high street banks allow you to use something called a "paying in book" in which you note down in the required fields the amount you wish to deposit and in how many notes or coins. This is used as a receipt and proof of the deposit. The customer then simply hands over the cash to the bank worker. Other ways a customer can deposit money is via check, which is written by them from another account or by somebody else and is done in the same way; the check is handed over instead of any cash.
Virtually any other way your money ends up in a bank is classed as a deposit. This can be by electronic funds transfer, from paypal or various other online services.

Any money that goes in and out of a bank account is recorded on a statement, which can now be accessed online in real time or by a monthly paper version sent to the home of the bank account holder. A deposit will be shown, defined by the date, sometimes the time, how the deposit was made and how much was deposited. If you weren't aware of a deposit you can contact your bank for further explanation.