telephone banking

telephone banking A facility enabling customers to use banking services by means of telephoning rather than by visiting the bank's premises. Enquiries can be made and loans arranged in this way, often on a 24-hour service. Oral instructions for payments, account movements, and other operations can be made using a personal identification number and a special telephone number. In the UK the Midland Bank (part of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Group) pioneered telephone banking through their company called First Direct. Most UK High-Street banks and some building societies now offer remote banking services by telephone and computer. See also ELECTRONIC BANKING.