bank

Bank

An institution that provides a great variety of financial services. At their most basic, banks hold money on behalf of customers, which is payable to the customer on demand, either by appearing at the bank for a withdrawal or by writing a check to a third party. Banks use the money they hold to finance loans, which they make to businesses and individuals to pay for operations, mortgages, education expenses, and any number of other things. Many banks also perform other services for a fee; for instance they offer certified checks to customers guaranteeing payment to third parties. In some countries they may provide investment and insurance services. With the exception of Islamic banks, they pay interest on deposits and receive interest on their loans. Banks are regulated by the laws and central banks of their home countries; normally they must receive a charter to engage in business. Banks are usually organized as corporations.

Farlex Financial Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All Rights Reserved

bank

a deposit-taking institution which is licensed by the monetary authorities of a country (the BANK OF ENGLAND in the UK) to act as a repository for money deposited by persons, companies and institutions, and which undertakes to repay such deposits either immediately on demand or subject to due notice being given. Banks perform various services for their customers (money transmission, investment advice, etc.) and lend out money deposited with them in the form of loans and overdrafts or use their funds to purchase financial securities, in order to operate at a profit. There are many types of banks, including COMMERCIAL BANKS, MERCHANT BANKS, SAVINGS BANKS and INVESTMENT BANKS. See BANKING SYSTEM, BANK OF ENGLAND, CENTRAL BANK.

Collins Dictionary of Business, 3rd ed. © 2002, 2005 C Pass, B Lowes, A Pendleton, L Chadwick, D O’Reilly and M Afferson

bank

a deposit-taking institution that is licensed by the monetary authorities of a country (the BANK OF ENGLAND in the UK) to act as a repository for money deposited by persons, companies and institutions, and which undertakes to repay such deposits either immediately on demand (CURRENT ACCOUNT 2) or subject to due notice being given (DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS). Banks perform various services for their customers (money transmission, investment advice, etc.) and lend out money deposited with them in the form of loans and overdrafts or use their funds to purchase financial securities in order to operate at a profit. There are many types of banks, including COMMERCIAL BANKS, MERCHANT BANKS, SAVINGS BANKS and INVESTMENT BANKS. In recent years many BUILDING SOCIETIES have also established a limited range of banking facilities. See BANKING SYSTEM, CENTRAL BANK, FINANCIAL SYSTEM.

Collins Dictionary of Economics, 4th ed. © C. Pass, B. Lowes, L. Davies 2005

bank

An institution empowered by law to receive deposits, cash checks or drafts, discount commercial paper,make loans,and issue promissory notes payable to the bearer,known as bank notes. American commercial banks fall into two categories:(1) federally chartered and (2) state chartered. Federally chartered banks come under the regulatory and auditing supervision of the United States Comptroller of the Currency.State-chartered banks come under the control of the appropriate state banking authority.Typically the FDIC will audit state-chartered banks and the comptroller's office will audit federally chartered banks.

The Complete Real Estate Encyclopedia by Denise L. Evans, JD & O. William Evans, JD. Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.