You can have your pension paid direct into a bank, building society, or National Giro account.

Advertising ceased and charges were introduced that would discourage further growth in the personal giro account business.

This is possible because the Girocard contains the bank account number and routing code of the giro account in the magnetic stripe.

Your salary is paid on a monthly basis by credit transfer, either to a bank or building society account, or by direct credit to a national giro account.

In Germany, banks generally provide direct debit (elektronisches Lastschriftverfahren (ELV), "Lastschrift", Bankeinzug) using both methods since the advent of so-called Giro accounts in the 1950s.

The term is a bacronym for "Government Internal Revenue Order", is related to the German term Girokonto (Giro account), which is a common type of bank account in Germany.

This method gives you the choice of having your pension paid direct into a bank or National Giro account; or, alternatively, into an investment account with either the National Savings Bank or with most building societies.

Computerisation, it was argued, would transform the profitability of the new system, and it was estimated that a payment between two National Giro accounts could be made in 24 hours if there was a central accounting office located at a good communications hub.

Having a giro account meant writing one's own girocheques and although recipients of girocheques did not need to have (and most did not have) a giro account, girocheques issued by personal customers were sometimes viewed with suspicion by the recipient.