Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 537, Types of Bank Accounts.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 537.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is eslpod.com.
Go there to download a learning guide for this episode that contains all of the vocabulary definitions, sample sentences, additional definitions, cultural notes, comprehension questions and a complete transcript of everything we say.
This episode is called Types of Bank Accounts.
It's a dialogue between Luis and Iona, going through some of the common vocabulary we use when talking about the special arrangements or agreements you have with a bank when you give them your money.
Let's get started.
Where are you going?
I'm going to the bank to open an account.
What kind of account?
A savings account, a checking account, or a CD?
Hmm, I'm not sure, but I'm sure someone at the bank can help me decide.
You'll also need to decide if you want an interest-earning account or not.
And don't forget to ask for free checking.
Pick a bank that doesn't have monthly service charges.
Okay, thanks.
And make sure you know if there's a minimum balance required, because if the account dips below that minimum you'll be charged a fee.
Yes, right.
I'll be sure to do that.
Well, I'd better get going.
You probably want to open a checking account and a savings account, so make sure you link those accounts.
That should give you overdraft protection in case you ever bounce a check.
Okay, I'll definitely keep all of that in mind.
I'd better go.
Samil is waiting for me.
Are you thinking of opening a joint account with your boyfriend?
We're considering it.
Pool your money and open a CD.
That way you'll lock in a good interest rate and neither of you can touch the money until the CD matures.
We'll think about it.
Thanks.
Oh, and Would you like to come with us to the bank and help us open our accounts?
Really?
But I don't want to interfere.
You?
Interfere?
I can't imagine you ever trying to interfere.
Luis begins by asking Iona, where are you going?
Iona says, I'm going to the bank to open an account.
Luis says, what kind of account?
A savings account, a checking account, or a CD?
A savings account is a bank account designed to hold your money that you are saving and usually to pay you a small percentage amount of what we would call interest.
It's money that the bank gives you for using your money, because banks, of course, don't just take your money and put it in a safe place.
They lend that money out to other people.
They let other people use your money and those other people pay the bank interest.
But here the bank pays you interest, you extra money.
A checking account is a bank account that holds money that you can use to write checks with.
A check is a small piece of paper.
Basically, it's a promise to pay a certain amount of money.
You give someone this check and they can take it to their bank and the bank will get the money from your checking account.
Checking accounts sometimes also offer interest.
It depends on the account.
A CD stands for a Certificate of Deposit.
It's a special bank account where you give the bank usually a large amount of money, more than ten thousand dollars typically.
It could be up to a million dollars or more.
And you give this to the bank and you agree not to touch it for a certain amount of time.
It's like a savings account, but you can't just go to the bank and take your money out.
You have to leave it there for 60 days, 90 days, a year, maybe up to five years.
The bank then gives you more interest.
It gives you a higher what we would call rate of interest.
It allows you to get more money for putting your money with this bank.
In the United States, CDs are popular ways of saving a lot of money.
If you have a lot of money that you don't want to invest, don't want to put elsewhere, you can put it into a CD.
Iona says, I'm not sure, but I'm sure someone at the bank can help me decide.
Louise says, you'll also need to decide if you want an interest earning account or not.
We've already described interest as the percentage of money that the bank gives you back for allowing the bank to use your money.
Interest earning just refers to an account that earns interest.
That's the verb we use.
You earn interest.
You get money for your money.
The verb earn can also mean to get money from a job.
I work.
I earn money from my job.
Not a lot of money, but some money.
Luis says, don't forget to ask for free checking.
In some banks the bank charges you a fee for having a checking account or for not having enough money in your checking account.
Free checking is a checking account where the bank does not charge you any money.
It doesn't charge you a fee.
Luis says, pick a bank that doesn't have monthly service charges.
A service charge at a bank is the amount of money the bank makes you pay for certain services, such as using an automatic teller machine, an ATM, a machine that you go and you put a card into and you get money out of from your account.
Some banks have service charges for using ATMs.
Some banks in the US now have service charges if you want to go into the bank and talk to a real human being.
That's sort of strange, but it's true at a lot of banks, especially big banks nowadays.
These would all be called service charges.
Iona says, okay, thanks, but Luis has more advice.
Luis says, and make sure you know if there's a minimum balance required.
Make sure means get this piece of information.
Be confident about this piece of information, that you know it.
Be sure.
He says, make sure you know if there's a minimum balance required.
A minimum balance is the minimum or least amount of money that you have to keep in your bank account.
Usually, banks require a minimum balance – balance is just the amount of money in your account – in order to have an account without service charges.
So in some banks, you have to have a minimum balance of, say, $1,000 or $5,000.
If you don't have that amount, the bank will charge you a service charge.
Luis says, if the account dips below that minimum, you'll be charged a fee, a service charge.
To dip...
Below means to fall below a certain number or amount, to be less than a certain number or amount.
You could say the temperature dipped below 30 degrees Fahrenheit last night, meaning it got below, it went lower than 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
So if your bank has a 5000 minimum balance and you have less than 5000 because you took some money out, you would dip below the minimum balance.
Iona says, yes, right, I'll be sure to do that.
Well, I better get going.
This is a polite way of saying, I need to leave now.
Iona wants Luis to stop talking to her, stop giving her advice.
Luis, however, continues to give advice.
He says you probably want to open a checking and a savings account, so make sure you link those accounts.
To link accounts.
L-I-N-K, is to connect, to tie things together.
At many banks, you can have both a savings account and a checking account.
You link the accounts together so you can move money from one account to the other easily.
Louis says linking the checking and savings accounts will give Iona overdraft protection in case you ever bounce a check.
Overdraft protection is a service where the bank will pay a check even if you don't have enough money in your checking account.
It's used to protect people in case or in the event that they bounce a check.
To bounce a check means to write a check, to give someone a promise that you are going to pay them, but not having enough money in your account.
So if you give someone a check for 500 and you only have 250 in your account, that would be bouncing a check.
Some people do that accidentally.
Some people do it purposely, in which case they can get into trouble, including legal trouble.
Bounce has several different meanings in English, as does the word link, which we used a minute ago.
For both of those words, take a look at our learning guide for additional explanations.
I should explain that the word draft in this case means the same as withdrawal.
To withdraw money from an account means to take it out.
So an overdraft is when you try to draw too much money out of your account, such as the example of our bounced check.
Iona says, okay, I'll definitely keep all of that in mind.
I'll try to remember all of that.
I'd better go.
I'd better go is another polite way of saying, I have to go now.
Shut up.
Samil is waiting for me, Iona says.
Louis says, are you thinking of opening a joint account with your boyfriend?
A joint account is an account where you have two or more people who are officially or legally on the account, we would say meaning both of their names are on the account.
They both can use the account.
Luis is asking Iona if she plans to open a joint account with her boyfriend.
Perhaps they're getting married soon.
Iona says, we're considering it.
We're thinking about it.
Luis says, pool your money and open a CD.
To pool, P-O-O-L, your money, means to combine your money.
To pool anything means to combine things.
Usually, for example, if you are in a group and you all need to do something together, you might pool your resources, the things that you have, in order to accomplish your task or goal.
In this case, you would pool your money.
You would put your money together and, Luis is recommending, open a CD, a certificate of deposit.
He says that way, you'll lock in a good interest rate.
To lock in in this case means to agree on an interest rate that will not change over time, or to agree on a price that will not change over time.
When you buy a house in the United States and you get a special loan for that house what we call a mortgage from a bank, You can lock in your interest rate.
You can say, okay, I want this particular interest rate, and the bank guarantees it.
It agrees that it won't change it.
It won't make it go up.
This is a way of protecting you.
Louise says you'll lock in a good interest rate.
Remember, the interest rate is the percentage of money that...
Either the bank will pay you for putting money in a savings account or CD, or that you pay the bank when the bank loans you money.
Louis says neither of you can touch the money until the CD matures.
To touch the money here means you can't take the money out.
That's what a CD is.
It's when you give your money to the bank for a long period of time and you are not allowed to take the money back.
To mature here means for a financial arrangement to reach maturity.
The end of a specified or agreed period.
In other words, if you have a one year CD, it will mature 12 months from today.
And on that date, then you can get your money back and get the interest that the bank paid you.
That's what we mean by a CD maturing.
It comes to the end of the time that you agreed to leave the money there.
Finally, Iona says, we'll think about it.
Thanks.
Luis says oh, and Iona says would you like to come with us to the bank and help us open our accounts?
Iona isn't really serious, but she's saying to Luis, you're giving me too much advice now.
Luis says, really?
But I don't want to interfere.
To interfere means to become involved in someone else's business or someone else's personal life, especially if that person doesn't want you to be involved, doesn't want you to help.
Iona says, you interfere?
I can't imagine you ever trying to interfere.
Iona's being sarcastic.
She's making a joke.
Because Luis has been giving all of this advice that Iona didn't actually ask him for.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Where are you going?
I'm going to the bank to open an account.
What kind of account?
A savings account, a checking account, or a CD?
I'm not sure, but I'm sure someone at the bank can help me decide.
You'll also need to decide if you want an interest earning account or not.
And don't forget to ask for free checking.
Pick a bank that doesn't have monthly service charges.
Okay, thanks.
And make sure you know if there's a minimum balance required, because if the account dips below that minimum you'll be charged a fee.
Yes, right.
I'll be sure to do that.
Well, I'd better get going.
You probably want to open a checking and a savings account, so make sure you link those accounts.
That should give you overdraft protection in case you ever bounce a check.
Okay, I'll definitely keep all of that in mind.
I'd better go.
Samil is waiting for me.
Are you thinking of opening a joint account with your boyfriend?
We're considering it.
Pool your money and open a CD.
That way you'll lock in a good interest rate and neither of you can touch the money until the CD matures.
We'll think about it.
Thanks.
Oh, and... Would you like to come with us to the bank and help us open our accounts?
Really?
But I don't want to interfere.
You?
Interfere?
I can't imagine you ever trying to interfere.
In case you didn't know, the script for this episode was written by Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2009 by the Center for Educational Development.
