Banking Industry

The global industry built around banks, financial institutions that accept deposits from the public, create demand deposits and make loans, acting as intermediaries that facilitate payments through checking accounts, wire transfers and automated clearing houses, and improve credit access by using diversified assets and capital buffers to support borrowers who might otherwise lack credit. In a fractional reserve banking system, every loan a bank issues creates a new sum of money, a process underpinning modern monetary systems worldwide. As of 2008 to 2009 the largest 1,000 banks worldwide held about 96.4 trillion dollars in assets; the United States alone had 5,330 banks and roughly 81,607 branches as of 2015, China's top four banks together operated more than 67,000 branches, and between 1985 and 2018 the industry saw about 28,798 mergers and acquisitions worth roughly 5.2 trillion dollars.