'''Giro''' adalah suatu istilah perbankan untuk suatu cara pembayaran yang hampir merupakan kebalikan dari sistem cek. Suatu cek diberikan kepada pihak penerima pembayaran (''payee'') yang menyimpannya di bank mereka, sedangkan giro diberikan oleh pihak pembayar (''payer'') ke banknya, yang selanjutnya akan mentransfer dana kepada bank pihak penerima, langsung ke akun mereka.

Perbedaan tersebut termasuk jenis perbedaan sistem 'dorong dan tarik' (''push and pull''). Suatu cek adalah transaksi 'tarik': menunjukkan cek akan menyebabkan bank penerima pembayaran mencari dana ke bank sang pembayar yang jika tersedia akan menarik uang tersebut. Jika tidak tersedia, cek akan "terpental" dan dikembalikan dengan pesan bahwa dana tak mencukupi. Sebaliknya, giro adalah transaksi 'dorong': pembayar memerintahkan banknya untuk mengambil dana dari akun yang ada dan mengirimkannya ke bank penerima pembayaran sehingga penerima pembayaran dapat mengambil uang tersebut. Karenanya, suatu giro tidak dapat "terpental", karena bank hanya akan memproses perintah jika pihak pembayar memiliki daya yang cukup untuk melakukan pembayaran tersebut. Namun ini juga berarti pihak pembayar tidak mendapatkan keuntungan dari "float".

== Sejarah dan Konsepsi ==
Surat Giro atau ''Postgiro'' memiliki sejarah yang panjang dan membanggakan dalam sejarah finansial Eropa. Konsep dasar adalah sistem perbankan tidak berdasarkan cek, tetapi dengan transfer langsung diantara rekening. Jika kantor akuntan di sentralisasi, maka transfer diantara akun akan terjadi secara simultan. Uang bisa dibayarkan atau ditarik dari sistem dari kantor pos manapun, dan nantinya koneksi ke sistem perbankan komersial dibuat, seringnya dengan keyakinan dari bank lokal membuat akun sendiri di Postgiro.

Pada pertengahan abad 20, kebanyakan negara di benua Eropa memiliki layanan pos giro. Sistem posgiro pertama ada di Austria di awal abad 19. Pada saat Posgiro Inggris diadakan, Posgiro Belanda telah distabilkan dengan baik dengan setiap orang dewasa memiliki akun posgiro dengan operasi posgiro yng besar dan digunakan dengan baik di negara Eropa lain kebanyakan dan Skandinavia.

Istilah "bank" tidak digunakan pada saat itu juga untuk mendeskripsikan layanan tersebut. Instrumen pembayaran utama bank didasarkan dengan cek dimana memiliki perbedaan keseluruhan dengan model remiten "giro".

A '''giro''' is a banking term for a method of payment. It is almost the opposite of a cheque.  A cheque is given to a payee who deposits it in a bank, but a giro is given by the payer to their bank, which transfers funds into the payee's bank account. Giro is often used by post offices as well. An electronic version is the direct deposit.

The difference is one of 'push' versus 'pull'. That is, a cheque is a 'pull'-initiated transaction: the presentation of the cheque by the payee causes the payee's bank to seek the funds from the payer's bank, which then takes the funds from the payer's account if the funds exist. If insufficient funds are available, then the cheque "bounces" (i.e. it is returned to the payee with a message of insufficient funds). By contrast, a giro is a 'push'-initiated transaction: the payer directs a bank to transfer funds from the payer's account to the payee's bank, where the payee can then withdraw the funds. As a result, a giro cannot "bounce", because the bank will only process the order if the payer has sufficient funds to cover the payment.  However, this also means that the payer receives no benefit of "float".

Giros are often used in large or periodic (e.g. monthly) money transfers, such as utility bills or taxes. In contrast, daily purchases with small and variable payments are typically paid by other means.

The use of both cheques and giros is now in decline in developed countries in favour of electronic payments, which are thought to be faster, cheaper and safer due to the reduced risk of fraud. In the UK many large retailers, including leading supermarkets such as J Sainsbury's, stopped accepting cheques from customers in late 2007 citing reasons of limited cheque usage, shorter checkout queues and increased security. Other smaller retailers have since followed suit.

==History and concept==
Giro systems date back at least to money transfer in early banking.

Postal Giro or Postgiro systems have a long and honourable history in European financial services. The basic concept is that of a banking system not based on cheques, but rather by direct transfer between accounts.  If the accounting office is centralised, then transfers between accounts can happen simultaneously. Money could be paid in or withdrawn from the system at any post office, and later connections to the commercial banking systems were established, often by the convenience of the local bank opening its own account at the Postgiro.

By the middle of the 20th century, most countries in continental Europe had a postal giro service. The first postgiro system was established in Dutch Postgiro was very well established with virtually every adult having a postgiro account with very large and well used postgiro operations in most other countries in Europe and Scandinavia.

The term "bank" was not used initially to describe the service. The banks' main payment instrument was based on the cheque which has a totally different remittance model from the "Giro". 

In the '''''banking model''''', '''cheques''' are written by the remitter and then handed or posted to the payee, who must then visit a bank or post the cheque to his bank. The cheque must then be cleared, a complex process by which cheques are sorted once, posted to a central clearing location, sorted again, and then posted back to the paying branch where the cheque is finally checked and then paid. 

In the '''''Postal Giro model''''', '''Giro Transfers''' are sent through the post by the remitter to the Giro Centre. On receipt, the transfer is checked and the account transfer takes place. If the transfer is successful, the transfer document is sent to the recipient, together with an updated statement of account being credited. The remitter is also sent an updated statement. In the case of large utilities receiving thousands of transactions per day, statements would be sent electronically and incorporate a reference number uniquely identifying the remittance for reconciliation purposes.