Bank

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Part of a series on financial services
Banking
The Bank of England, established in 1694
Types of banks Advising Banq Bulge bracket Central Commercial Community development Cooperative Credit union Custodian Depository Development Direct Export credit agency Investment Industrial Merchant Middle market Mutual savings Neobank Offshore Participation Payments Postal savings Private Public Retail Savings Savings and loan Universal Wholesale Bank holding company Lists of banks
Accounts · Cards Accounts Christmas club Deposit Money-market Savings Time deposit (Bond) Transaction (checking / current) Cards ATM Credit Debit Prepaid
Funds transfer Cheque Card Electronic Bill payment Mobile Wire RTGS NS ACH Instant payment Giro SWIFT Correspondent account CLS CIPS SPFS BRICS PAY
Terms Automated teller machine Bank regulation Loan Mobile banking Money creation Bank secrecy Ethical banking Fractional-reserve banking Full-reserve banking Islamic banking Private banking
Related topics Financial market (participants) Corporate finance Personal finance Public finance Financial law Financial regulation List of banks
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Personal finance
Credit · Debt
Mortgage Car loan Charge card Credit card Unsecured personal loan Rent-to-own Student loan Pawn Title loan Payday loan Refund anticipation loan Refinancing Debt consolidation Debt rescheduling Bankruptcy
Employment contract
Salary Wage Salary packaging Employee stock ownership Employee benefits
Retirement
Pension Defined benefit Defined contribution Social pension Social security
Personal budget and investment
Financial planner Financial adviser Financial independence Estate planning Target date fund
See also
Bank Cooperative Credit union Universal basic income
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A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans.^[1] Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.^[2]

Whereas banks play an important role in financial stability and the economy of a country, most jurisdictions exercise a high degree of regulation over banks. Most countries have institutionalized a system known as fractional-reserve banking, under which banks hold liquid assets equal to only a portion of their current liabilities. In addition to other regulations intended to ensure liquidity, banks are generally subject to minimum capital requirements based on an international set of capital standards, the Basel Accords.

Banking in its modern sense evolved in the fourteenth century in the prosperous cities of Renaissance Italy but, in many ways, functioned as a continuation of ideas and concepts of credit and lending that had their roots in the ancient world. In the history of banking, a number of banking dynasties – notably, the Medicis, the Fuggers, the Welsers, the Berenbergs, and the Rothschilds – have played a central role over many centuries. The oldest existing retail bank is Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (founded in 1472), while the oldest existing merchant bank is Berenberg Bank (founded in 1590).