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TECHNICAL UPDATE VOLUME 7
Volume 7: Bank Giro Credit Vouchers
Why have the standards changed?
From 1st January 2001, all Bank Giro Credits must conform to APACS Standard 3.2 in terms of overall design and code lines. This rationalisation has been introduced by all APACS member banks in order to improve compatibility with the UK automated clearing system.
Some 2.2 billion BGC’s are printed each year in the UK (most of which are never used as they are on statements or other documents) only about 20% pass through bank clearing systems.
...................................................................................................................................Voucher size
Maximum size 8 1/4" (210mm) width x 4" (102mm) depth
Minimum size 6 1/8" (156mm) width x 2 7/8" (73mm) depth
The preferred minimum size of a Joint Giro Credit is 6 3/4" (171mm) width x 4" (102mm) depth
...................................................................................................................................Bank Giros - Defined
A Bank Giro Credit is the paper voucher by which money can be credited to an account
(a) within the same bank branch
(b) at another branch of the same bank or
(c) at a branch of a different bank.
There are three types of BGC currently in circulation, each identified by the transaction code in the code line.
Pre printed Credits
The standard personalised ‘paying in slips’ provided by banks to their personal and business customers, either included in customer cheque books or paying in books.
Collection Credits
Sent out by larger companies (such as utilities and credit card companies) with statements/invoices and collated centrally within the company’s bank.
Joint Giro Credits
These are dual purpose credits, similar to collection credits, which will credit both a bank account, if paid in at a bank and a Girobank account, if paid in at a Post Office.
...................................................................................................................................General requirements for Bank Giro Credit Vouchers
BGC’s must always be printed on CBS2 85gm or CBS1 95gm
BGC’s must be printed in ink with a PCS (Print Contrast Signal) of 60% or greater
The Total Amount Box (TAB) - A drop out ink outline may be provided to give a visual differentiation of the area for completion.
The minimum thickness of the outline shall be 1/20" (1.3mm) with a Print Contrast Signal (PCS) of less than 0.3 (30%).
Any requirement to print on the reverse of the voucher shall be approved by the account holding bank
Proofs must be sent to the clearing bank for authorisation of both layout and codeline
Approval may also be required for the codeline from the bank approval centre.
The name of the printer of the BGC shall be printed along the left hand side of the voucher. Where the printer is an APACS accredited printer, then their accreditation number is sufficient.
...................................................................................................................................Codelines
Codelines can be printed in:
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) format,
MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) format,
or a mix of both; the clearing bank must be consulted as the most suitable format for your needs and the type of computer printer and ink/toner to be used.
...................................................................................................................................WARNING: Bank Giro Credits Vouchers, in the wrong hands, are vulnerable to fraud; they should be treated with the same respect as cheques.
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