financial institution

Financial institution

An enterprise such as a bank whose primary business and function is to collect money from the public and invest it in financial assets such as stocks and bonds, loans and mortgages, leases, and insurance policies.

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Financial Institution

An organization, which may be either for-profit or non-profit, that takes money from clients and places it in any of a variety of investment vehicles for the benefit of both the client and the organization. Common examples of financial institutions are retail banks, which take deposits into safekeeping and use them to make loans to other customers, and insurance companies, which do not take deposits, but provide guarantees of payment if a certain situation occurs in exchange for a premium. See also: Depository institution, Non-depository institution.

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Financial institution. Any institution that collects money and puts it into assets such as stocks, bonds, bank deposits, or loans is considered a financial institution. There are two types of financial institutions: depository institutions and nondepository institutions.

Depository institutions, such as banks and credit unions, pay you interest on your deposits and use the deposits to make loans. Nondepository institutions, such as insurance companies, brokerage firms, and mutual fund companies, sell financial products.

Many financial institutions provide both depository and nondepository services.

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financial institution

An organization that obtains money from deposits and earns money from loans.