Banking: The Business of Holding Other People's Money
Banking is the industry of keeping deposits, lending money and moving payments. The same word also means tilting an aircraft into a turn, and building something up in a heap.
Banking names an industry, a job and an activity all at once. Behind it is a simple trade: a bank takes in money it must return and lends out money it hopes to get back. The gap between those two interest rates is where the business lives.
- The business of banks. *She works in investment banking.*
- Using bank services. *I do all my banking online.*
- Tilting into a turn (aviation). *The aircraft was banking to the left.*
- Heaping up. *Banking the fire kept it alight overnight.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | banking | A career in banking. |
| Verb | bank | Bank the cheque tomorrow. |
| Person | banker | An investment banker. |
| Noun | bank | The nearest bank. |
| Phrasal | bank on | Do not bank on it. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Retail banking serves individuals rather than companies.Retail, commercial and investment are the usual divisions.
- Mobile banking has closed hundreds of branches.Banking as the activity, not the industry.
- I would not bank on him turning up.Bank on means rely on, and it is usually negative.
Branches of the industry
- Retail banking — current accounts, savings and mortgages for individuals
- Commercial banking — accounts and loans for businesses
- Investment banking — raising capital, advising on mergers, trading
- Central banking — setting interest rates and issuing currency
The word goes back to Italian *banca*, a bench. Money changers in medieval Italy worked at benches in the marketplace. When one failed, his bench was broken — *banca rotta* — which is where English gets bankrupt.
Why does bank also mean the side of a river?
That is a separate word from an Old Norse root meaning a ridge or slope. The two banks are unrelated despite sharing a spelling.
What does bank on mean?
Rely on something happening. It treats a promise like money in an account, which is why it so often appears in the negative.