Fourth Grade
Worksheets
Opening a Checking Account
Josh frowned at the check he got from his Aunt Mary for his birthday. He was grateful for the money. But he was thinking about the problems that he was going to have cashing the check. He would have to show all kinds of identification and pay a fee to cash it. He asked his friend Bill if he knew of a better way.
"Why don't you find a bank and open a checking account?" Bill asked. "Then you could cash or deposit all your checks without any problems. You could also write checks and send your bills through the mail. You wouldn't have to run all over town paying them with cash."
"I guess you're right," Josh said. He began looking in the phone book for banks in his area. He wrote down a few addresses and headed out to visit them. He got a lot of information from the banks and then came home to sort it all out. He decided on First Union Trust Bank. It was close to where he worked and offered the best banking services.
He went back to First Union Trust. He told the teller he would like to open a checking account. The teller went to get one of the office people. The woman introduced herself to Josh as Kate Smith. She took Josh into her office.
"How can I help you today?" Kate asked.
"I'd like to open a checking account," Josh told her.
"I can help you with that," Kate said, smiling. She handed Josh a card to fill out. "You'll need to fill this out with your name and address. Also, fill in your Social Security number. This is your signature card. Sign it at the bottom, in cursive, the way you would usually sign your name."
Kate explained what the signature card was for. She told Josh that it showed the bank how he signed his name. The card would be kept on file. Later, the employees at the bank could check the card to make sure it was really Josh's signature on the checks that were signed with his name. It's a safety measure so that no one else could get money out of Josh's account.
Josh thought that was a good idea. He filled out the card completely and then signed it at the bottom. He handed it back to Kate.
