Shroff

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Shroff (disambiguation) .

Shroff is a term from colonial times in China .

definition

A shroff was a Chinese employee who made sure that issued "chits" (a kind of promissory note ) were paid on time.

In what was then Shanghai z. For example, everything was done cashless among expats by putting one's signature on a bill, the “chit”. Once a month the lender would send out his shroff to collect the money. This process could be seen as a forerunner to today's credit card system.

Compradores usually employed several shroffs who also had to do all the tasks that arose in the office.

etymology

The expression Shroff is probably derived from the Arabic word “sarraf”, which was used to designate silver experts at banks who checked the authenticity of paid-in silver coins .

literature

• Barbara Schmitt-Englert: Germans in China 1920-1950: Everyday life and changes . Gossenberg: Ostasien Verlag, 2012. ISBN 978-3-940527-50-9 . P. 45