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The Banks and Banking Portal

The Bank of England, established in 1694

A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.

Whereas banks play an important role in financial stability and the economy of a country, most jurisdictions exercise a high degree of regulation over banks. Most countries have institutionalized a system known as fractional-reserve banking, under which banks hold liquid assets equal to only a portion of their current liabilities. In addition to other regulations intended to ensure liquidity, banks are generally subject to minimum capital requirements based on an international set of capital standards, the Basel Accords. (Full article...)

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Selected banking articles

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Electronic bill payment is a feature of online, mobile and telephone banking, similar in its effect to a giro, allowing a customer of a financial institution to transfer money from their transaction or credit card account to a creditor or vendor such as a public utility, department store or an individual to be credited against a specific account. These payments are typically executed electronically as a direct deposit through a national payment system, operated by the banks or in conjunction with the government. Payment is typically initiated by the payer but can also be set up as a direct debit.

In addition to the bill payment facility, most banks will also offer various features with their electronic bill payment systems. These include the ability to schedule payments in advance to be made on a specified date (convenient for installments such as mortgage and support payments), to save the biller information for reuse at a future time and various options for searching the recent payment history. In many cases the payment data can also be downloaded and posted directly into the customer's accounting or personal finance software. (Full article...)
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In American finance, the FDIC problem bank list is a confidential list created and maintained by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation which lists banks that are in jeopardy of failing. The list is closely monitored, and if problems continue with a listed bank, the FDIC takes control of the bank; it may then sell the problem bank to a stronger one, or liquidate the bank and pay off the depositors. (Full article...)
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A time deposit or term deposit (also known as a certificate of deposit in the United States, and as a guaranteed investment certificate in Canada) is a deposit in a financial institution with a specific maturity date or a period to maturity, commonly referred to as its "term". Time deposits differ from at call deposits, such as savings or checking accounts, which can be withdrawn at any time, without any notice or penalty. Deposits that require notice of withdrawal to be given are effectively time deposits, though they do not have a fixed maturity date.

Unlike a certificate of deposit and bonds, a time deposit is generally not negotiable; it is not transferable by the depositor, so that depositors need to deal with the financial institution when they need to prematurely cash out of the deposit. (Full article...)
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The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is a United States government corporation supplying deposit insurance to depositors in American commercial banks and savings banks. The FDIC was created by the Banking Act of 1933, enacted during the Great Depression to restore trust in the American banking system. More than one-third of banks failed in the years before the FDIC's creation, and bank runs were common. The insurance limit was initially US$2,500 per ownership category, and this has been increased several times over the years. Since the enactment of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010, the FDIC insures deposits in member banks up to $250,000 per ownership category. FDIC insurance is backed by the full faith and credit of the government of the United States, and according to the FDIC, "since its start in 1933 no depositor has ever lost a penny of FDIC-insured funds".

The FDIC is not supported by public funds; member banks' insurance dues are its primary source of funding. The FDIC charges premiums based upon the risk that the insured bank poses. When dues and the proceeds of bank liquidations are insufficient, it can borrow from the federal government, or issue debt through the Federal Financing Bank on terms that the bank decides. (Full article...)

'Banq' and 'banc' are alternative spellings used in company names to evade legal restrictions on the use of the word 'bank' while maintaining a similar pronunciation. This practice is common in the financial services industry, particularly in the United States. (Full article...)

A bank card is typically a plastic card issued by a bank to its clients that performs one or more of a number of services that relate to giving the client access to a bank account.

Physically, a bank card will usually have the client's name, the issuer's name, and a unique card number printed on it. It will have a magnetic strip on the back enabling various machines to read and access information. Depending on the issuing bank and the preferences of the client, this may allow the card to be used as an ATM card, enabling transactions at automated teller machines; or as a debit card, linked to the client's bank account and able to be used for making purchases at the point of sale with a bank card using a payment terminal. Later, in 2010s, smart card technology was adopted for bank card. (Full article...)

Islamic banking, Islamic finance (Arabic: مصرفية إسلامية masrifiyya 'islamia), or Sharia-compliant finance is banking or financing activity that complies with Sharia (Islamic law) and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics. Some of the modes of Islamic finance include mudarabah (profit-sharing and loss-bearing), wadiah (safekeeping), musharaka (joint venture), murabahah (cost-plus), and ijarah (leasing).

Sharia prohibits riba, or usury, generally defined as interest paid on all loans of money (although some Muslims dispute whether there is a consensus that interest is equivalent to riba). Investment in businesses that provide goods or services considered contrary to Islamic principles (e.g. pork or alcohol) is also haram ("sinful and prohibited"). (Full article...)

A branch of the Coastal Federal Credit Union in Raleigh, North Carolina

A credit union is a member-owned nonprofit cooperative financial institution. They may offer financial services equivalent to those of commercial banks, such as share accounts (savings accounts), share draft accounts (cheque accounts), credit cards, credit, share term certificates (certificates of deposit), and online banking. Normally, only a member of a credit union may deposit or borrow money. In several African countries, credit unions are commonly referred to as SACCOs (savings and credit co-operatives).

Worldwide, credit union systems vary significantly in their total assets and average institution asset size, ranging from volunteer operations with a handful of members to institutions with hundreds of thousands of members and assets worth billions of US dollars. In 2018, the number of members in credit unions worldwide was 375 million, with over 100 million members having been added since 2016. (Full article...)

A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage, it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodities, particularly cloth merchants. Historically, merchant banks' purpose was to facilitate or finance the production and trade of commodities, hence the name "merchant". Few banks today restrict their activities to such a narrow scope.

In modern usage in the United States, the term additionally has taken on a more narrow meaning, and refers to a financial institution providing capital to companies in the form of share ownership instead of loans. A merchant bank also provides advice on corporate matters to the firms in which they invest. (Full article...)

A direct bank (sometimes called a branch-less bank or virtual bank) is a bank that offers its services only via the Internet, mobile app, email, and other electronic means, often including telephone, online chat, and mobile check deposit. A direct bank has no branch network. It may offer access to an independent banking agent network and may also provide access via ATMs (often through interbank network alliances), and bank by mail. Direct banks eliminate the costs of maintaining a branch network while offering convenience to customers who prefer digital technology. Direct banks provide some but not all of the services offered by physical banks.

Direct bank transactions are conducted entirely online. Direct banks are not the same as "online banking". Online banking is an Internet-based option offered by regular banks. (Full article...)

Selected banks

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Head office at Estonia puiestee 13 in Tallinn, erected 1935 on a design by architects Eugen Habermann and Herbert Johanson

The Bank of Estonia (Estonian: Eesti Pank) is the Estonian member of the Eurosystem and has been the monetary authority for Estonia from 1919 to 2010, albeit with a long suspension between 1940 and 1989, issuing the Estonian kroon. (Full article...)
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UniCredit S.p.A. (formerly UniCredito Italiano S.p.A.) is an Italian multinational banking group headquartered in Milan. It is a systemically important bank (according to the list provided by the Financial Stability Board in 2022) and the world's 34th largest by assets. It was formed through the merger of Credito Italiano and Unicredito in 1998 but has a corporate identity stretching back to its first foundation in 1870 as Banca di Genova. UniCredit is listed on the Borsa Italiana and Frankfurt Stock Exchange and is a constituent stock of the Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading shares.

With corporate & investment banking, commercial banking and wealth management operations, Unicredit is a pan-European bank with a strong presence in Western, Central and Eastern Europe. Through its European banking network, it provides access to market-leading products and services in 13 core markets: Italy, Germany as HypoVereinsbank, Austria as Bank Austria, Russia and nine other Central and Southeast European countries. (Full article...)
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Danske Bank A/S (pronounced [ˈtænˀskə ˈpɑŋˀk], lit. 'Danish Bank') is a Danish multinational banking and financial services corporation. Headquartered in Copenhagen, it is the largest bank in Denmark and a major retail bank in the northern European region with over 5 million retail customers. Danske Bank was number 454 on the Fortune Global 500 list for 2011. The largest shareholder with 21% of the share capital is A.P. Moller Holding, the investment holding company of the Maersk family.

It was founded 5 October 1871 as Den Danske Landmandsbank, Hypothek- og Vexelbank i Kjøbenhavn ("The Danish Farmers' Bank, Mortgage and Exchange Bank of Copenhagen"), and was commonly known as Landmandsbanken ("the Farmers' Bank"). In 1976, the bank changed name to Den Danske Bank ("The Danish Bank"), and the current name was adopted in 2000. (Full article...)
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Tours Société Générale, the company's headquarters in La Défense near Paris.

Société Générale S.A. (French: [sɔsjete ʒeneʁal]), colloquially known in English speaking countries as SocGen (French: [sɔk ʒɛn]), is a French multinational universal bank and financial services company founded in 1864. It is registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby in La Défense.

Société Générale is France's third largest bank by total assets after BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole. It is also the sixth largest bank in Europe and the world's eighteenth. It is considered to be a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board. It has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision in late 2014, and as a consequence is directly supervised by the European Central Bank. (Full article...)
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Bank One Corporation was an American bank founded in 1968 and at its peak the sixth-largest bank in the United States. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONE. The company merged with JPMorgan Chase & Co. on July 1, 2004, with its CEO Jamie Dimon taking the lead at the combined company. The company had its headquarters in the Bank One Plaza (now the Chase Tower) in the Chicago Loop in Chicago, Illinois, now the headquarters of Chase's retail banking division.

Bank One traces its roots to the merger of Illinois based First Chicago NBD, and Ohio-based First Banc Group (later Bank One), a holding company for the City National Bank in Columbus, Ohio. (Full article...)
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Logo used since 2018
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (株式会社三井住友フィナンシャルグループ), initialed as SMFG until 2018 and SMBC Group since, is a major Japanese financial services group and holding company. It is the parent of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), SMBC Trust Bank, and SMBC Nikko Securities. SMBC originates from the 2001 merger of Sumitomo Bank with the Sakura Bank, itself a successor to the Mitsui Bank, and the group holding entity was created in December 2002 after which SMBC became its wholly-owned subsidiary.

SMBC Group operates in retail, corporate, and investment banking segment worldwide. It provides financial products and services to a wide range of clients, including individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises, large corporations, financial institutions and public sector entities. It operates in over 40 countries and maintains a presence in all International Financial Centres as the 12th biggest bank in the world by total assets. It is one of the largest global financial institutions in project finance space by total loan value. It is headquartered in the Marunouchi neighborhood of Tokyo. (Full article...)
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Since 2010, Crédit Agricole has been headquartered in a remodeled former Schlumberger plant in Paris, known as Campus Evergreen

Crédit Agricole Group (French: [kʁedit‿aɡʁikɔl]), sometimes called La banque verte (lit. 'The green bank', due to its historical ties to farming), is a French international banking group and the world's largest cooperative financial institution. It is the second largest bank in France, after BNP Paribas, as well as the third largest in Europe and tenth largest in the world. It consists of a network of Crédit Agricole local banks, 39 Agricole regional banks and a central institute, the Crédit Agricole S.A.. It is listed through Crédit Agricole S.A., as an intermediate holding company, on Euronext Paris' first market and is part of the CAC 40 stock market index. Local banks of the group owned the regional banks, in turn the regional banks majority owned the S.A. via a holding company, in turn the S.A. owned part of the subsidiaries of the group, such as LCL, the Italian network and the CIB unit. It is considered to be a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board.

It was the title sponsor of the Crédit Agricole professional road cycling team from 1998 to 2008. (Full article...)
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Toronto-Dominion Bank (French: Banque Toronto-Dominion), doing business as TD Bank Group (Groupe Banque TD), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The bank was created on February 1, 1955, through the merger of the Bank of Toronto and the Dominion Bank, which were founded in 1855 and 1869, respectively. It is one of two Big Five banks of Canada founded in Toronto, the other being the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

In 2021, according to Standard & Poor's, TD Bank Group was the largest bank in Canada by total assets and also by market capitalization, a top 10 bank in North America, and the 23rd largest bank in the world. In 2019, it was designated a global systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board. In 2023, the company was ranked 43rd in the Forbes Global 2000. (Full article...)
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Washington Mutual, Inc. (often abbreviated to WaMu) was an American savings bank holding company based in Seattle. It was the parent company of Washington Mutual Bank, which was the largest savings and loan association in the United States until its collapse in 2008.

On September 25, 2008, the United States Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) seized WaMu's banking operations and placed it into receivership with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The OTS took the action due to the withdrawal of US$16.7 billion in deposits during a 9-day bank run (amounting to 9% of the deposits it had held on June 30, 2008). The FDIC sold the banking subsidiaries (minus unsecured debt and equity claims) to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion, which had been considering acquiring WaMu as part of a plan internally nicknamed "Project West". All WaMu branches were rebranded as Chase branches by the end of 2009. The holding company was left with $33 billion in assets, and $8 billion in debt, after being stripped of its banking subsidiary by the FDIC. The next day, it filed for Chapter 11 voluntary bankruptcy in Delaware, where it was incorporated. (Full article...)
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The ING Group (Dutch: ING Groep) is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, wholesale banking, private banking, asset management, and insurance services. With total assets of US$967.8 billion, it is one of the biggest banks in the world, and consistently ranks among the largest banks globally.

ING is the Dutch member of the Inter-Alpha Group of Banks, a co-operative consortium of 11 prominent European banks. Since the creation in 2012, ING Bank is a member in the list of global systemically important banks. It has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision in late 2014, and as a consequence is directly supervised by the European Central Bank. (Full article...)

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Selected images

Image 1Interior of the Helsinki Branch of the Vyborg-Bank [fi] in the 1910s (from Bank)
Image 2Sederholm House [fi] in Helsinki, the Bank's seat from 1819 to 1824 (from Bank of Finland)
Image 3Former branch in Kotka (from Bank of Finland)
Image 4An American bank in Maryland. (from Bank)
Image 5Carved sign for The Standard Bank of Canada, in Brechin, Ontario. (from Standard Bank of Canada)
Image 6Former branch in Sortavala, now in Russia (from Bank of Finland)
Image 7Safra National Bank, New York (from Bank)
Image 8Former branch in Turku (from Bank of Finland)
Image 9Branch of Nepal Bank in Pokhara, Western Nepal. (from Bank)
Image 10Sealing of the Bank of England Charter (1694), by Lady Jane Lindsay, 1905. (from Bank)
Image 11Helsinki head office extension designed by Harry W. Schreck [fi] in the late 1950s (from Bank of Finland)
Image 12Suburban bank branch (from Bank)
Image 13Standard Bank of Canada branch in Brechin, Ontario. Empty as of 2014, the building was later used as a Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce branch, until they moved to the other side of the street. (from Standard Bank of Canada)
Image 14Bank of Finland strong box which moved to Helsinki with the bank when it relocated from Turku (from Bank of Finland)
Image 15Former branch in Viipuri, now Vyborg, Russia (from Bank of Finland)
Image 16Amsterdam head office before 1987, lately headquarters of Booking.com (from AMRO Bank)
Image 17The 1909 Standard Bank Building at King and Jordan in Toronto, designed by Darling and Pearson. (from Standard Bank of Canada)
Image 18A Banco do Brasil office in São Paulo, Brazil, the bank is the largest financial institution in Brazil and Latin America. (from Bank)
Image 19Citibank, The People's Trust Company Building, Brooklyn, New York City. (from Bank)
Image 20An interior of a branch of National Westminster Bank on Castle Street, Liverpool (from Bank)
Image 21Statesman Jan van den Brink was instrumental in the merger of Amsterdamsche Bank and Rotterdamsche Bank in 1964, and remained on the bank's board until 1978 (from AMRO Bank)
Image 22The BANK of Greenland, Nuuk (from Bank)
Image 23A former building society, now a modern retail bank in Leeds, West Yorkshire. (from Bank)
Image 24The Bank's current head office completed in 1883, with statue of J.V. Snellman by sculptor Emil Wikström in front (from Bank of Finland)
Image 25An office of Nordea bank in Mariehamn, Åland (from Bank)
Image 26National Copper Bank, Salt Lake City 1911 (from Bank)
Image 27Former branch [fi] in Tampere (from Bank of Finland)
Image 28Commerce Tower in Montreal, designed by Peter Dickinson, was begun for the Bank of Commerce but was not completed until after the merger with the Imperial Bank. (from Canadian Bank of Commerce)
Image 29Banco de Venezuela in Coro. (from Bank)
Image 30This 15th-century painting depicts money-dealers at a banca (bench) during the Cleansing of the Temple. (from Bank)
Image 31OTP Bank in Prešov (Slovakia) (from Bank)
Image 32Rotterdam head office [nl], later repurposed as a shopping center (from AMRO Bank)
Image 33SEB main building in Tallinn, Estonia (from Bank)
Image 34Global headquarters of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel (from Bank)
Image 35Branch of the Standard Bank of Canada in Markham, Ontario, shown in 1912. (from Standard Bank of Canada)
Image 36Government Palace in Helsinki, the Bank's home from 1824 until relocation to its current building in 1883 (from Bank of Finland)
Image 37Beethovenstraat branch in Amsterdam, 1970 (from AMRO Bank)
Image 38National Bank of the Republic, Salt Lake City 1908 (from Bank)
Image 39An HSBC Bank Canada branch in Toronto, 2008 (from HSBC Bank Canada)
Image 40An illustration of Northern National Bank as advertised in a 1921 book highlighting the opportunities available in Toledo, Ohio (from Bank)
Image 41Former branch in Oulu (from Bank of Finland)
Image 42ATM Al-Rajhi Bank (from Bank)
Image 43An HSBC Bank Canada branch in Richmond Hill, Ontario, 2014 (from HSBC Bank Canada)
Image 44The HSBC Canada Building in Vancouver housed the headquarters for HSBC's Canadian subsidiary (from HSBC Bank Canada)
Image 45Large door to an old bank vault. (from Bank)