Banker-Customer Relationships

Abstract

There is no statutory definition of a ‘bank customer’, and therefore it is necessary to rely on case law in order to establish whether a person is a customer or not. In Great Western Railway v. London and County Banking Co. (1901), it was stated that a customer must have a current account or deposit account or some similar relationship. However not all ‘customers’ of banks deposit money and may, for instance, deposit valuables other than money, yet the banks regard such people as customers. In Woods v. Martins Bank Ltd and Another (1959) it was considered that Woods became a customer when he made an investment in a company on the advice of the manager, even though his account was not opened for some weeks thereafter.