When bills not due are paid into a bank by a customer, it is the custom of some bankers not to carry theamount of the bills directly to his credit, but to “enter them short,” as it is called, i. e.,to note down the receipt of the bills, their amounts, and the times when they becomedue in a previous column of the page, and the amounts when received are carriedforward into the usual cash column. Sometimes, instead of entering such bills short,bankers credit the customer directly with the amount of the bills as cash, charginginterest on any advances they may make on their account, and allow him at once todraw upon them to that amount. If the banker becomes bankrupt, the property in billsentered short does not pass to his assignees, but the customer is entitled to them ifthey remain in his hands, or to their proceeds, if received, subject to any lien the bankermay have upon them. Wharton.
Black’s Law Online Dictionary
