Editing Transaction account (section)

== History ==
[[File:1967 Midland Bank letter on electronic data processing.JPG|thumb|1967 letter by the [[Midland Bank]] to a customer, informing on the introduction of electronic data processing and the introduction of account numbers for current accounts]]
In [[Holland]] in the early 1500s, [[Amsterdam]] was a major trading and shipping city. People who had acquired large accumulations of cash began to deposit their money with ''cashiers'' to protect their wealth. These cashiers held the money for a fee. Competition drove cashiers to offer additional services, including paying out money to any person bearing a written order from a depositor to do so. They kept the note as proof of payment.

This concept spread to other countries including [[England]] and its colonies in North America, where land owners in [[Boston]] in 1681 mortgaged their land to cashiers who provided an account against which they could write checks.

In the 18th century in England, preprinted checks, serial numbers, and the word "[[cheque]]" appeared. By the late 18th century, the difficulty of clearing checks (sending them from one bank to another for collection) gave rise to the development of [[Bankers' clearing house|clearing houses]].