Electric van

This vehicle was manufactured by Harbilt at Market Harborough in Leicestershire. It was used by the Royal Bank of Scotland to transport cheques from its building to the Clearing House on Lombard Street in the City of London. The van was kept in the basement of the RBS office on Lombard Street (entrance on Clements Lane). It was one of a fleet of such vehicles purchased centrally by APACS (Association of Payment Clearing Services) to be used by the banks.

These vehicles were first introduced in the 1960s. Electric vans were used because the entrance at the Clearing House was too narrow for regular vehicles to fit through. They were also quieter than petrol driven vehicles, which assuaged concern over noise pollution. Electric vans also had the advantage that they did not require petrol. As a result staff did not have to carry cash with them to refuel at petrol stations. They were also exempt from road tax which saved the banks money. All the big banks had at least one of these vehicles which would be used each weekday to transport cheques to the Clearing House.

The Clearing House on Lombard Street was formally established in 1833 by a group of private bankers. Later in 1854 the new corporate banks joined. The Bank of England became a member in 1864. Cheque clearing took place there for over one hundred and fifty years except for a brief relocation to Stoke-on-Trent during the Second World War. APACS was set up in 1985 by the Clearing House members. APACS (known as the UK Payments Administration as of July 2010) was an umbrella organisation which included the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company. This is now a separate entity having formally been a department of APACS. The Clearing House on Lombard Street was closed on 3 February 1995 when member banks decided to move their processing operations out of London. The original Clearing House was too small to cope with the volume of cheque clearing and it was cheaper for the banks to relocate. The use of electric vans was discontinued in favour of petrol driven transit vans.