The term bank has different uses and meanings. The word can refer to the seat in which several people can sit. Benches, which may or may not have a backrest, are often used in parks, squares and other public places. For example: “We are going to sit on that bench under the tree”, “The square was full of people: there was not a single free bench”.
The benches can be built with wood, cement or stone, among other materials. In ancient times, most of the benches were made of stone and were attached to the wall of a building. They also made it possible to form the seats that made up the stands in theaters and circuses.
Bench is also the thick wood that, placed horizontally on four legs, is used as a table by carpenters and other craftsmen.
At the same time, the shoal whose members belong to the same species and swim in a polarized manner with high synchronization is known under the concept of a school of fish. A sandbar is, instead, the accumulation of sand in the bed of a river or along the coastline.
The bank as a financial institution
In another sense, a bank is a financial institution that is dedicated to money management. The bank offers services such as the deposit of securities and the loan of capital. The banking system, also known as banking, is the set of banks that operate within an economy.
The concept of the bank as a financial institution began to develop during the Renaissance. Historians claim that the first modern bank was the Banco di San Giorgio, founded in Genoa (Italy) in 1406.
In order to operate these entities they need the support of many solvent people and companies who contribute their capital, depositing it in this entity and that it can give it on loan to third parties, returning to the first after a certain period an amount stipulated in advance in terms of Accumulated interests.
In addition, they have the contribution of various shareholders who want to increase their capital and speculate about what they could own within a specified period. The calculation of the interests that the institution must contribute to its investors is calculated based on the percentages of the money contributed and the time in which the contract to be sealed will remain in force, these interests are called the interest rate of collection.
With this money collected, banks can lend to people or institutions that require loans, agreeing in advance the interest that they must pay to give the bank the assurance that it will see said money again; From these interests derives the enrichment of the financial institutions since the interest rates to be paid by the applicants of these loans are usually higher than the interest rate of the deposit. The difference between the two rates is the profit obtained by the financial institution and is known under the Anglo-Saxon term “spread”.
Unfortunately, and despite the fact that the foundation of these institutions planned to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants, what happens is exactly the opposite. The power that governments have been granted to banks has led them to direct the threads that govern life in society and become the enemies of the common citizen.
In Spain, for example, those individuals who requested a mortgage loan in order to buy a house in installments, have been in the terrible circumstance of, after losing their job, being thrown out of their homes for not being able to continue assuming the costs of the mortgage; The banks evict people without any scruples and then put that home up for sale again, offering another loan and continuing their enrichment at the expense of people’s work and illusion.
