current account

Current account

Net flow of goods, services, and unilateral transactions (gifts) between countries.

Copyright © 2012, Campbell R. Harvey. All Rights Reserved.

Checking Account

An account at a bank in which a customer deposits money for immediate use. For example, one may utilize a checking account for one's monthly expenses, such as a mortgage payment or groceries. Because most customers keep money in a checking account for a shorter period than in a savings account, a current account pays a slightly lower interest rate. Typically, one can write a check or use a debt card on a checking account, and banks expect customers to do so. The term "checking account" is more common in the United States. In the United Kingdom, the common term is "current account."

Farlex Financial Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All Rights Reserved

current account

1. an individual's or company's account kept at a COMMERCIAL BANK or BUILDING SOCIETY into which the customer can deposit cash or cheques and from which he or she can draw cheques or make withdrawals on a day-to-day basis.
2. a financial record of a country's trade in GOODS and SERVICES with the rest of the world (see BALANCE OF PAYMENTS).
3. an account which keeps a record of individual partner's share of profits or losses, and amounts withdrawn, in a PARTNERSHIP.

Collins Dictionary of Business, 3rd ed. © 2002, 2005 C Pass, B Lowes, A Pendleton, L Chadwick, D O’Reilly and M Afferson

current account

1. 1a statement of a country's trade in goods (visibles) and services (invisibles) with the rest of the world over a particular period of time. See BALANCE OF PAYMENTS.
2. an individual's or company's account at a COMMERCIAL BANK or BUILDING SOCIETY into which the customer can deposit cash or cheques and make withdrawals on demand on a day-to-day basis. Current accounts (or sight deposits as they are often called) offer customers immediate liquidity with which to finance their transactions. Most banks and building societies pay INTEREST on current account balances that are in credit. See BANK DEPOSIT, DEPOSIT ACCOUNT.

Collins Dictionary of Economics, 4th ed. © C. Pass, B. Lowes, L. Davies 2005