The banking Companies Regulation Act of India 1949, defines banking as “The accepting for the purpose of lending or investment of deposits of money from public, repayable on demand or otherwise, withdrawal by cheques, draft or otherwise”. According to HORACE WHITE “The bank is manufacturer or credit and a machine for facilitating exchange”.A bank is a commercial or state institution that provides financial services, including issuing money in form of coins, banknotes or debit cards, receiving deposits of money, lending money and processing transactions. A commercial bank accepts deposits from customers and in turn makes loans based on those deposits. Some banks (called Banks of issue) issue banknotes as legal tender. Many banks offer ancillary financial services to make additional profit; for example: selling insurance products, investment products or stock brooking.
Banks have a long history, and have influenced economies and politics for centuries. In history, the primary purpose of a bank was to provide liquidity to trading companies. Banks advanced funds to allow businesses to purchase inventory, and collected those funds back with interest when the goods were sold. For centuries, the banking industry only dealt with businesses, not consumers. Commercial lending today is a very intense activity, with banks carefully analysing the financial condition of its business clients to determine the level of risk in each loan transaction. Banking services have expanded to include services directed at individuals and risk in these much smaller transactions are pooled.
