Passbook

A passbook or bankbook is a paper book used to record bank or building society transactions on a deposit account.

A bank teller or postmaster would write the date, amount of the transaction, and the updated balance and enter his or her initials by hand.

Passbooks appeared in the 18th century, allowing customers to hold transaction information in their own hands for the first time.

In the 1980s, banks adopted the black light signature system for passbooks, which enabled withdrawals to be made from passbooks at a branch other than the one where an account was opened, unless prior arrangements were made to transfer the signature card to the other branch.

However, unlike some bank statements, some passbooks offer fewer details, replacing easy-to-understand descriptions with short codes.