giro
Noun: 1. A British financial transfer system: A system, historically operated by banks and post offices, for transferring money directly from one bank or post office account to another based on the payer's authorization. 2. A welfare payment (British, historical): A check or order issued by the British government to an unemployed person, which could be cashed at a bank or post office. This usage is now largely historical.
- Noun (Financial System):
- I set up a giro to pay my rent automatically each month.
- The company uses the bank giro system for all salary payments.
- Noun (Welfare Payment - historical):
- In the 1980s, he collected his giro from the post office every fortnight.
- The term "giro" was commonly used to refer to unemployment benefit itself.
- "To be on the giro": A colloquial British expression (now dated) meaning to be receiving state unemployment benefits.
- After losing his job, he was on the giro for six months.
- Bank Giro Credit: A specific type of payment slip used within the giro system to pay money into a bank account.
- Girobank: A British bank, originally set up by the Post Office, which specialized in the giro transfer system.
- Giro Number: The account number used within the giro system.
- Direct transfer: (for the financial system)
- Credit transfer: (for the financial system)
- Benefit check/voucher: (for the welfare payment)
The primary modern meaning relates to the financial transfer system, which was a precursor to modern electronic bank transfers like BACS in the UK. The secondary meaning relating to welfare payments stems from the fact that these state benefits were distributed via the Post Office Giro system. This welfare sense is now largely obsolete in official use but persists in colloquial memory.
- a British financial system in which a bank or a post office transfers money from one account to another when they receive authorization to do so
- a check given by the British government to someone who is unemployed; it can be cashed either at a bank or at the post office