clearing-house 的詞源

此外， clearinghouse 於1805年誕生，起源於 clearing 和 house（名詞）。起初，這個機構由倫敦的銀行家們建立，以解決彼此的支票和票據問題； 後來這個詞推廣到了類似的機構。

CLEARING, is a method adopted by city bankers, for exchanging the drafts on each others houses, and settling the differences.—Thus at a stated hour in the afternoon, a clerk from each attends at the Clearing House, where he brings all the drafts on the other bankers, which have been paid into his house during the course of the day; and, having debited their different accounts with the articles which he has against them, he deposits them in their proper drawers, (a drawer being here allotted to each banker:) he then credits their accounts respectively, with the articles which they have against him, as found in his drawer. Balances are then struck on all the accounts, and the differences are transferred from one to another, until they are so wound up, that each clerk has only to settle with two or three others, which is done in cash, or Bank of England notes. [P. Kelly, "The Elements of Book-Keeping," London, 1805]

清算，是城市銀行家所採用的一種方法，用以交換彼此名下房屋的票據並結算差額。在每天下午規定的時間，每家銀行的一位職員前往 Clearing House，攜帶當日收到的其他銀行的票據，根據清單將每個賬戶標記相應的應收或應付項，然後將它們放入各自的抽屜裏（每個銀行家有自己的抽屜）：然後他將各自的賬戶記上相應的付款或收款，記在其抽屜中找到對應的條目。最後，在各家銀行之間覈算結算，將差額相互轉移，直到它們被合理處理，每位職員只需要與其他兩三名職員結算，而這可以通過現金或英格蘭銀行券來完成。 [P.Kelly,“記賬要素”，倫敦，1805年]