Word: haselton
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Last June Ronald Haselton, 41, president of the Consumers Savings Bank of Worcester, Mass., introduced a more convenient form of checking: a bank draft called NOW (for Negotiable Order of Withdrawal). NOW drafts look and are used exactly like the checks offered by most checking accounts. Each draft costs 15?. At Consumers Savings, depositors no longer even have to bother with bankbooks. Instead, NOW users get monthly computerized statements of deposits, withdrawals, charges and interest. The minimum balance required is $10. Last May Haselton won a test case in the state supreme judicial court establishing the legality of NOW accounts...
Commercial bankers are irritated, because they find it impossible to compete against what in effect are interest-yielding checking accounts. Under the Federal Banking Act of 1933, commercial bankers are forbidden to retaliate by paying interest on their checking accounts. Haselton insists that the NOW system is reasonable, arguing: "It's the consumer's money, and he should be able to get it whenever he pleases for whatever he wants...