Girobank was a British public sector financial institution founded in 1968 by the General Post Office. It started life as the National Giro but went through several name changes, becoming National Girobank, then Girobank Plc (latterly trading as Alliance & Leicester Giro), before merging into Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank (now part of Santander Corporate Banking) in 2003.
The organisation chalked up notable firsts. It was the first bank designed with computerised operations in mind; the first bank in Europe to adopt OCR (optical character recognition) technology; the first UK bank to offer free accounts to individuals; the first bank to offer interest-bearing current accounts, and the first bank in Europe to offer telephone banking, operating several years prior to the start of Midland Bank's First Direct service. It is widely credited for shaking up the UK banking market, forcing competitors to innovate and respond to the needs of the mass market.
Read more about Girobank: The Concept, Reason For Establishment in The UK, Planning For The National Giro, Uncertainty and The "Green Light", Banking For The Masses, Girocheque As A Derogatory Term, Competition, Privatisation, Campaign For Re-establishment