RENTING SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES

33

dorsed" for collection and credit," is completed, the owner gets the item, or its proceeds. After collection such an item becomes a general deposit. A deposit made under an agreement that it is to remain for a fixed time is called a "time deposit." A deposit made with the understanding that it is to be repaid upon request is a "demand deposit." The Federal Reserve Act provides that for the calculation of bank reserves "demand deposits" are those payable within thirty days; "time deposits " being those payable after thirty days, savings deposits subject to not less than thirty days' notice and postal savings deposits.

33. Safe deposit boxes. Banks have invested enormous sums of money in large roomy vaults, ingeniously devised to be proof against fire, thieves, and burglars. These contain upon their walls hundreds of steel boxes of different sizes, which are for rent to the public, and to which the bank has no access. The renter can get a size that suits his needs at a cost of five dollars (three dollars, in small towns) a year and upwards. Here he can safely keep his stock certificates, bonds, and notes, insurance policies, jewelry, or anything he wishes. The bank is bound to exercise due care for the safety of the vault and all its contents. It is interesting to see how carefully the safes are guarded. No one except he has business, and is known, is admitted to these quarters. The renter is always accompanied by an attendant. The renter's key alone will not open the box. Two keys are required and the attendant has the other. Large banks have private booths into which the renter may retire to look over his papers. When he leaves the booth, the attendant notices if he has left anything, and in most cases keeps a record of the times of arrival and departure of the renter. After the box is surrendered the lock is changed before the safe is again rented.

Renting a box. The applicant for a box must be known, or be identified. The bank wants to know that

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the renter has a reputation for honesty. Some banks require references of those who are unknown to them. Should an assumed name be used, a bank would, in case of death, have trouble in locating the heirs. The receipt for rent, which must be paid in advance, contains a recital of the agreement of the renter to abide by the rules of the com

during which term, subject to the rules and regulations endorsed herein, it shall be the property of the lessee. The liability of the Bank, by reason of the letting, is limited to the exercise of their accustomed diligence to present the opening of said safe by any person other than the lessee or his duly authorized representative, and is assumed upon the express agreement that such opening shall not be inferable from proof of partial or total loss of the contents.

THE NEW FIRST NATIONAL BANK,

By.

(TURN OVER)

Receipt for box rent. On the back of such a form the rules and regulations for the rental of safe deposit boxes are usually printed. Some banks instead of issuing a receipt like the above have their patrons sign a receipt for the keys on the lower part of a contract of rental which has previously been signed by the proper bank officer.

pany, both those now and hereafter to be in force. The renter signs a receipt for the keys and accepts in writing the contract between him and the company. The card the renter signs contains spaces for his signature, the entry of items to help in his identification, and a space where hẹ can later, when he gives up the box, acknowledge its surrender and his removal of all the property. The clerk may take notes on the personal characteristics of the renter as well as his father's name, his mother's maiden name, and the date and place of his birth. None of these points are needed if a renter uses his box frequently, but some renters do not visit a vault often enough to permit the attendant to recognize them by sight. It is a common

ACCESS BY PARTNER OR DEPUTY

35

requirement for the renter to sign a card upon each visit. His signature identifies him, and when marked as to day and time serves as the record of the visit. Sometimes a password, assigned when the box is rented, is used.

hereby certify that all property placed in Box No.of the Oakland Savings and Trust Company has been withdrawn therefrom and is now in the owner's possession, and that the Oakland Savings and Trust Company is hereby released from all liability whatsoever.

Witness

Signature card of a box renter. Many banks use a simpler card.

Signed

Notice the detailed description.
The certificate at the bottom

is signed when the renter surrenders the box.

When a corporation rents one or more safes it is necessary for the directors to specify the person or persons who are to have the authority to use the box or boxes. It is customary to file a statement of such designations with the bank, so as to protect both the bank and the renting corporation, and enable each to have a definite statement of the rights and powers of the other.

35. Access by partner or deputy. - Two or more persons as partners may rent a safe and provide that either v can have access, that either can authorize yet another person to use it, and that either can at any time surrender it. The renter may upon a special form designate some one as his agent to visit and open his box. This may be

Witness

Key No.

and in

Weight

CUSTODIAN OF SECURITIES

37

for a single occasion, or a general power subject to revocation at will.

36. Storage.If it is not desired to rent a safe, one may still use the safe-keeping services of a bank by leaving his property in the care of the bank and taking a storage receipt. This service is intended to include any sort of valuables except money, stock, bonds, or other negotiable instruments. The articles stored may run all the way from items in an envelope to something heavy in a trunk. The charge in some cities is $1.25 a year a cubic foot, with a minimum charge of $2.00. Sometimes this service is free to regular patrons. In such cases the bank acts simply as a warehouseman, unless its contract assumes additional liabilities.

Small banks which do not have a safe-deposit department, frequently accommodate their customers by taking care of steel document boxes in which the customer places his valuable papers.

37. Custodian of securities. Some banks have a safekeeping department, distinct from the safe-deposit department, in which the bank assumes control, as agent, of deposited securities, doing away with the need of the customer personally visiting a rented safe. The bank keeps each one's securities separate and in absolute privacy. The service rendered may be one merely of safekeeping, the bank agreeing to return the bonds or stocks when requested. The bank may in return for a moderate charge undertake to do everything in connection with the securities that the owner would do. A large New York bank lists its services as follows: 1

1. Accepts the custody of securities against receipt. 2 Renders periodical statements of securities held, when requested.

1 The Guaranty Trust Company of New York, The Care of Securities.