ENGLISH BANKNOTES AND COINS

The official currency of the United Kingdom is the pound sterling which is equal to one hundred pence.

English banknotes are issued by the Bank of England. As to coins they are minted also by this state bank. There are banknotes of the following denominations: £1, £5, £10, £20. £50, £100. The following coins are in circulation: halfpenny, one penny, two pence, five pence, ten pence, fifty pence.

On the face of English banknotes one can read the denomination given both in figures and in words. Then the inscription on the face of the banknote reads: I promise to pay the bearer оn demand the sum of... And then there are two signatures. The first signature is that of the person authorized by the Government and the Bank of England. The second signature is that of the Chief Cashier.

The backs of English banknotes, like many other banknotes, feature portrait of different famous people. The one pound banknote, for example, features Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727) a well-known English scientist who made a few very important discoveries including gravitation law. The back of the five pound note portrays the Duke of Wellington (1769 - 1852), a famous Irish general who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, Belgium in 1815. On the back of the ten pound note one can see Florence Nightingale (1820 - 1910), founder of the nursing profession. She volunteered as a nurse to Turkey to take care of the wounded soldiers form Crimean War, war of England and France versus Russia. And the back of the twenty pound banknote features William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), the greatest playwright of all time.

AMERICAN MONEY

The American dollar is subdivided into one hundred cents. The dollars are issued by the Federal Reserve System, established by Congress in 1913. Here is the text on the face of an American dollar banknote:

- ... dollars

- Federal Reserve Note

- The United States of America

- this note is legal tender for all debts public and private

- Washington. DC

- Treasurer of the United States

- Secretary of the Treasury

On the face of American dollars one can also see the portraits of the following famous persons:

- George Washington (1732 - 1799), the first President of the United States of America, who gave his name to the capital of the country.

- Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865) who was President from 1861 to 1865 after the war between the northern and southern states. It was he who proclaimed freedom of slaves of the south.

- Alexander Hamilton (1755 - 1804), a famous American statesman and оther famous people.

On the back of banknotes various famous buildings are featured, such as:

- Lincoln Monument, one of the monuments in Washington.

- US Treasury Building, in Washington.

- White House.

- US Capitol.

- Independence Hall, in Philadelphia.

All the banknotes bear the words: In God We Trust.

Savings account

To open a savings account at a bank a small initial deposit is needed. If you open your account with $500 or more and keep that much at all times, there is no service charge. If you fall below the 500 dollar limit, you will be charged $5 a month. A bank computer adds all the daily figures and then divides by the number of days in your statement period. Thai's called your average daily balance.

When you open an account, you'll be in touch with your money thanks to a bank machine services. These machines can handle most regular teller transactions. You can make deposits, cash withdrawals, and balance inquiries with your automatic teller card. The machine is at work 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If, for example, you want to open a savings account with a deposit of $1000, you are supposed to fill in (A.E. - out) an application. Besides you need to write a deposit ticket for $1000. After filling in the application you are given a pass-book. Once you place your money in a savings account, interest on the money begins to accrue. The bank will pay you 4 or 5% interest.

Checking Account

If you want to open a checking account, you are supposed to maintain an average daily balance of 1000 dollars. As long as you keep this average balance you won't be charged for banking services. Should you fall below the 1000 dollar limit, you would have to pay a service charge of $6 a month, and each of your transactions would be charged separately.

A transaction charge means that you'll have to pay 25 cents for each check made by you or your spouse and also 25 cents for each cash withdrawal. But you can easily avoid paying these charges by maintaining $1000 or more on your account.

Interest is paid if your average daily balance is over 2500 dollars. Unless you fall below 2500 dollars, you'll be paid 6,5% interest. The bank credits the interest you've earned automatically to your account.

You can order your check books after having filled in (out - A.E.) application and your deposit ticket.

For getting a credit card you must have an income of $15 000 or more. This income must be proved by your last pay stub or a copy of your tax return. As soon as the bank has this information, credit cards will be given to you and your wife.

Notes:

accrue - накопляться

stub – корешок чека

3. Scan the text and say what cyber dollars are and why digital money is perfect.