paulus wrote:


"Paul C" wrote in message

The bank is perfectly correct.

The statement you receive is an extract from the bank's accounts, seen
from THEIR point of view, not yours.

When you pay money in to the bank the bank's indebtedness to you is
increased. From their point of view you become more of a creditor and
your account is duly credited.

When you withdraw money from your account the bank's indebtedness to
you is reduced (if, for example, you were already overdrawn then from
their point of view you become more of a debtor). Your account is duly
debited.

If you were to keep your own accounts they would be a mirror image of
the bank's. Double entry and all that!

I can't see why the bank would record your transactions any other way.

Most people think that when you pay money into your account it has been
credited. Take money out and you have debited your account.

Why display these transactions any other way?


As Paul has said - and thanks for explaining it to me, Paul - if you keep
your own accounts, they are a mirror image of the bank's version. Hence, in
my accounts, a payment into my account goes into the debit column and a
withdrawal appears in the debit column.

Just shows how, when you assume you know what a word means, you can get
confused by the correct, technical usage. Dragging the subject back to
meteorology, as I've said elsewhere the phrase "scattered showers" may mean
something to the metcaster and probably means the same to the listener but
actually means nothing. Similarly, what is meant by "autumnal weather"?
Unless it's amplified as being stormy weather or quiet, misty weather, the
phrase is meaningless. So why do the clowns on TV and radio persist in
using it?

--
Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks., UK. E-mail: newsman, not newsboy.
"What use is happiness? It can't buy you money." [Chic Murray, 1919-85]