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The Meaning and Origin of Bank

Bank is an organization, generally a corporation, allowed by a state or a federal government, which does most or all of the following: get demand deposits, trusts instruments drawn on them, and pays interest on them; discounts notes, gives loans, and invests in securities; saves checks, drafts, and notes; approves depositor's checks; and issues drafts and cashier's checks.



 Banking in its modern sense emerged in the 14th century in the rich cities of Renaissance Italy but in various ways was a continuty of ideas and concepts of credit and lending that had their origins in the ancient earth. The oldest real retail bank is Monte dei Paschi di Siena, while the oldest real merchant bank is Berenberg Bank. The complete form of banking in the developed economies mature to be belief relevant Financial economics on Financial instrument.


Banking starts with the first prototype banks of merchants of the ancient earth, which formed corn loans to farmers and traders who received goods between cities. This start around 2000 BC in Assyria and Babylonia. Later, in age-old Greece and in the time of the Roman Empire, moneylenders based in temples invented loans and joined two important innovations: they approved deposits and alternated money. Archaeology from this period in olded China and India also shows testimony of money lending activity.

The history of modern banking can be traced to medieval and early Renaissance Italy, to the rich cities in the north like Florence, Lucca, Siena, Venice and Genoa. The Bardi and Peruzzi families dominated banking in 14th-century Florence, establishing branches in many other parts of Europe. One of the most famous Italian banks was the Medici Bank, set up by Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici in 1397. The earliest known state deposit bank, Banco di San Giorgio (Bank of St. George), was founded in 1407 at Genoa, Italy.
Gradually the goldsmiths began to lend the money out on behalf of the depositor, which led to the development of modern banking practices; promissory notes (which evolved into banknotes) were issued for money deposited as a loan to the goldsmith. The goldsmith paid interest on these deposits. Since the promissory notes were payable on demand, and the advances (loans) to the goldsmith's customers were repayable over a longer time period, this was an early form of fractional reserve banking. The promissory notes developed into an assignable instrument which could circulate as a safe and convenient form of money backed by the goldsmith's promise to pay, allowing goldsmiths to advance loans with little risk of default. Thus, the goldsmiths of London became the forerunners of banking by creating new money based on credit.