This part focuses on what is known as retail banking - the provision of current and savings accounts, loans, overdrafts, direct debits, standing orders, cheque books, cash handling, payment administration and so on - in other words the normal business of high street banks. Another type of banking is investment banking, which involves large-scale financial activities such as acquisitions, mergers, splits, initial public offerings and raising large amounts of money from investors.
However, since the widespread banking deregulation that occurred in and after the 1980s, financial services of all types are increasingly carried out by large banking corporations, so the traditional demarcations between retail banking, investment banking, financial trading, insurance and so on which used to be carried out by separate companies, are now also carried out by separate branches of banking corporations.
Nevertheless for this discussion when I use the word 'bank', I am referring to a retail bank, or the retail banking branch of a banking corporation.