BANKING FUNCTIONS

BANKING  FUNCTIONS 
 

Definition:-

Banking has been defined as “Accepting for the purpose of lending & investment, of deposit of money from the public, repayable on demand order or otherwise and withdraw able by cheque, draft or otherwise.”

Meaning:-

Banking means transacting business with a bank; depositing or withdrawing funds or requesting a loan etc.

}  HISTORY

}  The development of banking is evaluation in nature. The origin of the word bank can be traced back to the German word ‘Banck’ and Italian word ‘Banco’ which means heap of money.

Banking is an old  concept in India. It was present in ancient Vedic times. There were bankers known as ‘Sheth’, ‘Shah’, ‘Shroff’ or ‘Chettiar’ who were performing the function of bank.

}  PRIMARY FUNCTIONS

}  The main functions of banks are accepting deposit and lending loans:

A – accepting deposits

  1. Fixed deposits:- These deposits mature after a considerable long period like 1 year or more than that the rate of interest is fixed the amount deposited cannot be withdrawn before maturity date.

   2. Current A/C deposit:- These are mainly maintain by business community to facilitate frequent transaction with big amounts. Generally no rate of interest or very low rate of interest is paid on this account. 

  3. Savings bank A/C:- It is kind of demand deposits which is generally kept by the people for the sake of safety. These facility is given for small saver and normally a small rate of interest is paid.

  4. Recurring deposit A/C:-  In case of recurring deposit the fixed amount is deposited in a bank every month for a fixed period of time.

}  B-Lending loans

  1. Call loans:- These loan are called back at any time. Normally, this loans are taken by bill brokers or stock brokers.

  2. Short term loans:- These are sanctioned for a period up to 1 year.

  3.Medium term loans:- These are sanctioned for the period varying between 1 and 5 years.

}  Long term loans:-

These loan are sanctioned for a period of more than 5 years it includes:

1.     Overdraft:- The bank grants overdraft facility to its reliable and respectable depositors. It enables companies, firms and businessmen to withdraw amount over and above their actual balance in their current account.

2.     Cash credit: Under this facility, the bank allows the borrower to withdraw cash against certain security.

3.     Bills of Exchange:- The bank provide funds to their customers by purchasing or discounting bills of exchange. The bank charges commission up to the maturity period of bills.

}     SECONDARY FUNCTIONS

         Apart from the main functions, the banks also provide financial services to the corporate sector and business and society. They are as follows:

1.Merchant Banking:- Merchant banking is an organization which underwrites securities for companies, advises in various activities. No person is allowed to carry out any activity as a Merchant Banker unless holds a certificate granted by SEBI. Thus, merchant banks are financial institutions which provide specialized services including acceptance of bills of exchange, corporate finance, portfolio management and other services.

 2. Leasing:- Banks have started funding the fixed assets through leasing. It refers to the renting out of immovable property by the bank to the businessmen on a specified rent for a specific period on terms which may be mutually agreed upon. A written agreement is made in this respect.

  3.Mutual funds:- The main function of mutual fund is to mobilize the savings of the general public and invest them in stock market and money market.

 4. Venture Capital (VC):-Venture Capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup  companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as biotechnology, IT, software, etc.

 5. ATM:- An ATM is also known as cash point. The banks nowadays provide ATM facilities. The customers can withdraw money easily and quickly 24 hours a day.

 6. Telebanking:- Telebanking is a throwback to the days when people would call into a central number at their bank/financial institution in order to get balance, check status and other account-related information.
Most financial organizations offer telebanking services today; however, the public representation is known as telephone-based customer service or just customer service.

 7. Credit cards:- Credit cards allow a person to buy goods and services up to a certain limit without immediate payment. The amount is paid to the shops, hotel, etc. by the commercial banks.

  8. Locker Service:- Under this service, lockers are provided to the public in various sizes on payment of fixed rent. Customers can deposit their valuables, documents, jewellery, securities, etc. in these lockers.

  9. Underwriting:- This facility is provided to the joint stock companies and to the government. The banks guarantee the purchase of certain proportion of shares, if not sold in the market.