Bank

The essential function of a bank is to provide services related to the storing of deposits and the extending of credit. The evolution of banking dates back to the earliest writing, and continues in the present where a bank is a financial institution that provides banking and other financial services. Currently the term bank is generally understood as an institution that holds a banking license. Banking licenses are granted by bank regulatory authorities and provide rights to conduct the most fundamental banking services such as accepting deposits and making loans. There are also financial institutions that provide certain banking services without meeting the legal definition of a bank, a so called non-bank. Banks are a subset of the financial services industry.

History of banking

Main article: History of banking

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• Florentine banking — The Medicis and Pittis among others
• Banknotes — Introduction of paper money
• Bank of Amsterdam
• Bank of Sweden — The rise of the national banks
• Bank of England — The evolution of modern central banking policies
• Bank of America — The invention of centralized check and payment processing technology
• Swiss banking
• United States Banking
• Imperial Bank of Persia — History of banking in the Middle-East