Long ago some people took their treasures to the temples for safekeeping. Some people bought things as a way of keeping their wealth. Some men bought cattle. Others bought land. Still others bought valuable jewels and objects of gold and silver.
A modern bank accepts people’s money for safekeeping. It also lends money and offers many other services. The experience of a businessman will show some of these. James Jones has a furniture store and buys his goods from different parts of the country. He doesn’t want to keep big sums of money in his store or in his home. So he goes to the bank and opens a checking account.
Mr.Jones also deposits money in a savings account at the bank. The bank then uses this money and pays him a certain percentage on each dollar every year. This payment is called interest.
Mr.Jones can usually borrow from the bank if he needs money. If the bank lends him money, he must pay interest for its use.
When he travels, he buys traveler’s checks from the bank to use instead of money. And he rents a safe-deposit box in the bank for his valuable papers.
(Adapted from “Banks and Banking,” English For Today, Book III, PP. 93-95.)