Types of Banks

There are two types of banks: commercial banks and investment banks – or merchant banks as they are called in Great Britain. Commercial banks deal mainly with individual customers, for instance, private citizens, small businesses, and such like. They receive and hold deposits, lend money, exchange foreign currencies, advise their customers how to invest their money, and manage the customer’s accounts (for instance, pay or invest money according to the customer’s wishes). Commercial banks make their profit from the difference between the interest that they pay to people who deposit money and the interest they charge to people who borrow money. This difference is called a margin.

Investment banks deal mainly with rich corporate clients (companies or large firms) or rich individual clients. They aim not so much at lending money but at raising funds for industry (their corporate clients) in different financial markets. Therefore, investment banks act mainly as intermediaries for their customers. They do not themselves make loans, but make their profits from fees paid for their services. Merchant banks in Britain do the same, but they have greater authority because they also offer loans themselves. They finance international trade, deal with mergers, and issue government bonds.

In recent times, the difference between commercial and investment banks has been slowly disappearing as the so-called “financial supermarkets” replace them. These are a combination of a commercial bank, an investment bank, and an insurance company, offering the full range of financial services.

Whether depositing or borrowing money, a customer is most interested in the bank’s interest rate. The minimum interest rate within a certain country is usually determined by the central bank, and the interest rates offered by other banks sometimes fluctuate slightly from time to time, and are publicly advertised by any bank. They are always either higher than or equal to the minimum interest rate fixed for that country.

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