giro

1) A banking arrangement for settling debts that has been used in Europe for many years. In 1968 the Post Office set up the UK National Girobank (now Girobank plc) based on a central office in Bootle, Merseyside. Originally a system for settling debts between people who did not have bank accounts, it now offers many of the services provided by commercial banks, with the advantage that there are more post offices, at which Girobank services are provided, than there are bank branches. Also the post offices are open for longer hours than banks. Girobank also offers banking services to businesses, including an automatic debit transfer system, enabling businesses to collect money from a large number of customers at regular intervals for a small charge. Bank Giro is a giro system operated in the UK, independently of Girobank, by the clearing banks. It has no central organization, being run by bank branches. The service enables customers to make payments from their accounts by credit transfer to others who may or may not have bank accounts. Bancogiro is a giro system in operation on the Continent, enabling customers of the same bank to make payments to each other by immediate book entry.

2) A colloquial name for a payment made by the UK Department for work and pensions to a person in need of financial support.