In simple words, Banking can be defined as the business activity of accepting and safeguarding money owned by other individuals and entities, and then lending out this money in order to earn a profit. However, with the passage of time, the activities covered by banking business have widened and now various other services are also offered by banks. The banking services these days include issuance of debit and credit cards, providing safe custody of valuable items, lockers, ATM services and online transfer of funds across the country / world. It is well said that banking plays a silent, yet crucial part in our day-to-day lives. The banks perform financial intermediation by pooling savings and channelizing them into investments through maturity and risk transformations, thereby keeping the economy’s growth engine revving. Banking business has done wonders for the world economy. The simple looking method of accepting money deposits from savers and then lending the same money to borrowers, banking activity encourages the flow of money to productive use and investments. This in turn allows the economy to grow. In the absence of banking business, savings would sit idle in our homes, the entrepreneurs would not be in a position to raise the money, ordinary people dreaming for a new car or house would not be able to purchase cars or houses.
Banking activities can be generally divided into the following types:
|[pic] |Central Banking |
| |The duty of central banks is to maintain financial stability, otherwise a country's |
| |economy will not operate properly. Central banks act as regulators of their country's