Expressions to use at the bank

Lesson Transcript

Hi, everybody! My name is Alisha.

In this lesson, I’m going to talk about expressions you can use at the bank. These will be bank and banking-related expressions that you can use in everyday life.

Let’s get started!

Okay!

The first pair here are related to putting money in and taking money out of a bank account.

The first expression is, “to make a deposit.”

“to make a deposit”

The second expression is “to make a withdrawal.”

“to make a withdrawal”

So, a “deposit,” this refers to putting money into your bank account. So, to make a deposit means to put money into your bank account.

To make a withdrawal is the opposite.

To make a withdrawal means to take money out of your bank account. So, the verb we could use here is “to withdraw money.” So, “to withdraw” means to remove something from one place and take it out of that place. In this case, your money, to withdraw your money from your account.

We commonly use “to make” with both of these.

“to make a deposit”

“to make a withdrawal”

Another important point, especially about this deposit one, is you may sometimes hear the expression “direct deposit” used when talking about banking or when talking about your payments, your payments from your work, from your job. So, in some cases, in some countries and banking systems, you can use what’s called “direct deposit” which means you fill out a form, I’ll show an example sentence in a moment, so that your employer, the place where you work directly, so like right away sends your money as a deposit to your bank account. So, a direct deposit of your money into your bank account. So, this system is called “direct deposit.” Your money goes directly to your bank account.

So, let’s look at some examples that use these two.

First:

“I’d like to make a deposit, please.”

This is something you can use when you speak to staff at the bank. Remember “I’d” so not “I like” but “I’d like… to make a deposit, please.”

So, in the US, we use “checks.” So, sometimes, you can bring a check to a bank teller. The word for staff is “teller,” so the person who works at the bank is called a bank teller. “I’d like to make a deposit please with a check” or you can use cash as well. So, to make a deposit.

Also, as I mentioned this direct deposit system, you might use in the expression like:

“I signed up for direct deposit.”

In this case, it’s past tense.

So, depending on your situation, you may use some forms provided by your company like your company or the place where you work may give you a form to sign up for direct deposit. There may be some cases where you need to speak about direct deposit with the staff at your bank, so you might use a phrase like this, “sign up for direct deposit.”

Let’s look at then, using “withdrawal.”

Here:

“Can I make a withdrawal, please?”

So, this is phrased as a question, yes, but you can use:

“I’d like to make a withdrawal.”

So, I’d like to take money out of my bank account.

“I’d like to make a withdrawal.”

So, the pronunciation here, “with-” is the same as “with” like do something with someone. This part is a little bit of a challenge maybe. So, we don’t clearly pronounce “-drawal” like that. We say “withdraw…/aal/” “withdrawal, withdrawal” is how we say this word.

“Make a withdrawal.”

“Can I make a withdrawal, please?” is how it sounds in native speed.

Okay, let’s look at the next one.

The next one is “to apply for a loan.”

“to apply for a loan”

If you want to start a business or maybe you want to buy something really big and you need some money from the bank, you do this, to apply for a loan.

So, “to apply” means you go to the bank, you fill out some forms, you share your information, how much money you have, you have a meeting usually with the person at the bank to see if you can receive a loan. So, a “loan” is money from your bank, yes, and you are expected, you have to pay that money back to the bank. So, you receive a loan for your business or for the thing you would like to buy and you pay the money back to the bank, usually with interest, interest. So, “interest” is extra money that you give back for the reason of receiving the loan. So, the bank agrees to give you money and the bank expects to receive it back with a little extra. That extra is called “interest.” So, to apply for a loan.

For example:

“I applied for a loan yesterday.”

So here, we see apply in past tense.

“I applied for a loan yesterday.”

Okay, let’s move to the next expression, “to check (one’s) balance.”

So, this could be my balance or your balance.

“to check (one’s) balance”

“Balance” means the amount of money in your bank account. So, we don’t say like the total, for example. We use the word “balance.” This is specific for banking. “To check my balance” or “to check your balance” means to check how much money is in your account. That number is called your balance, “to check my balance.” So, “My balance is $1000” or “My balance is $500.” That means the total amount of money in my account.

To use this expression in a sentence then:

“I haven’t checked my balance recently.”

This means recently, in the last few days or maybe week or so, I have not looked at the total amount of money in my bank account.

“I haven’t checked my balance recently.”

Okay, let’s move on to the next one then. The next one is an unfortunate one. This is something, a problem that may happen. It is “to bounce a check” or “to bounce a payment.”

“To bounce a check” or “to bounce a payment.”

This is a very strange verb, I know. Maybe you know “bounce,” like to bounce a ball.

This, however, means your check or your payment did not complete because you did not have enough money in your bank account. Your balance was not enough. So, “to bounce a check” means you wrote a check, at least in the US banking system, you wrote a check, gave the check to someone, that person decided to make a deposit with your check, but it failed because your check was connected to a bank account that did not have enough money. Same thing with the payment, like you pay rent or you pay for something, but the payment bounces, so the payment bounced because you don’t have enough money in your bank account. So, this is a common problem that some people have.

So, for example:

“Oh no! My rent payment bounced!”

That means the payment was supposed to come from my account, but my account did not have enough money, so the payment failed. That’s called a “bounced payment,” a bounced payment.

“My payment bounced.”

So, this is the verb that we use for bounced payments, so for like failed payments or for failed checks.

Okay, let’s continue onto the next one.

The next one, this is important, I think, for many people to know the difference between. The verb is “to use,” yes, but we can use “to use a debit card” or “to use a credit card.”

“To use a debit card or a credit card.”

So, what is the difference between a debit card and a credit card?

Over here, a quick guide, a credit card is used to buy something now, yes, and you pay for it later with interest. So, again, as we talked about with loans, “interest” means extra money, in this case, extra money to your bank or to your credit card company. This is like, kind of like a small loan. So, for example, you can purchase something for $100 now, I use my credit card, and then next month, I need to pay $100 to my bank for that cost. So maybe if I don’t have $100 at the moment I want to buy something, a credit card is useful, and then I can pay it later.

So, you can find a lot of different kinds of credit cards with different kinds of payment schedules and different interest levels. So maybe, you can pay your credit card right away and there is no interest, or maybe you have interest to worry about too. So, a credit card means you can buy something now and pay for it later with your actual money you have.

A “debit card,” however, means you pay now for something and a debit card is connected to your bank account, directly connected to your balance. So, if I want to buy something that costs $100, I use my debit card and $100 comes from my bank account directly to pay for that.

So, a credit card means buy now, pay later. A credit- I’m sorry, a debit card means I buy now and I pay now directly from my account. So, there are different strategies people use, but we use the same verb, “to use a debit card” or “to use a credit card,” both are fine.

For example:

“I’d like to use a credit card, please.”

So, you can use either here.

“I’d like to use a debit card, please.”

Both are fine.

Okay, let’s go to the very last one for this lesson. The last one is, for most people, I think a very positive thing. It is “to pay off debt.”

“to pay off debt”

So, this is an important point here, this “off.”

“To pay debt” is not quite what we wanna hear.

“to pay off debt”

So, first, what is “debt”? Debt is money you owe to someone; money you owe to a bank, money you owe on a credit card. You have to pay this money. So, “to pay off debt” means to be free of debt. So, you pay everything.

For example:

“You pay off a credit card.”

That means you pay all the money you have to pay to complete payments on that credit card.

So, “to pay off debt” is a good thing. That means you have no debt. “To pay off debt.” So, we must use this “off” here, “to pay off (something).”

You might also hear this used with like large objects like “to pay off a car” or “to pay off a house.” That means you finish paying for the loans required to buy that item.

“to pay off debt”

So, “debt” is any type of, like loan, any type of kind of credit card-related thing. So, “debt” is typically not a good thing to have, so we are usually very happy to pay off debt.

For example:

“I finally paid off my debt this month!”

So, here, past tense.

“To pay” becomes “paid,” paid.

“I finally paid off my debt this month.”

So, again, that means all of my debt is gone. I’ve finished paying off my debt. I’ve finished paying for these other things.

Okay! So, this is a list of, hopefully, useful expressions that are related to the bank and that you can use at the bank. I hope that they were helpful for you. Bye-bye!

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