Clearing houses acted as an impartial go-between to ensure that banking transactions were accurate. The first clearing house, New York Clearing House, was founded in 1853 at the suggestion of George D. Lyman, a NY bank bookkeeper. You can find an interesting ‘biographical note’ about the function and history of the New York Clearing House on Columbia University Libraries collection of the New York Clearing House Association records 1853-2006. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/archival/collections/ldpd_7094252/
