Bank

Definition

• A financial institution in which money is kept for saving or commercial purposes or is invested, supplied for loans, or exchanged.

Synonyms
safe, vault, trust company, financial institution, firm, treasury, depository, credit union

Alternate Spellings
td, bmo, scotiabank, rbc, cibc

Related Terms and Acronyms

• ATM Alliance — Definition,
  • An alliance between banks and/or credit unions that is designed to avoid or minimize surcharges for non-bank customers at ATM machines. Customers from one bank that belongs to the alliance can use surcharge-free ATMs at all alliance banks.
• Bank Holding Company (BHC) — Acronym,
  • A company that owns or controls one or more banks or companies associated with banking such as leasing companies, credit companies, etc. It is usually identified by the word Bancorp or Bancshares in the name. The Federal Reserve Board of Governors regulates all bank holding companies.
• Bank Reserves — Definition,
  • Banks' holdings of deposits.
• Bank Spread — Definition,
  • The difference between the interest rate a bank charges a borrower and the interest rate a bank pays a depositor.
• Bank Wire — Definition,
  • An electronic payment system for the transfer of money between banks.
• Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) — Company Est. 1891, Canada, Very Important,
  • Professional industry association that provides information, research, advocacy, education and operational support services primarily to the banking industry.
  ➥ One of Canada's oldest business associations.
• Chartered Banks — Definition,
  • Financial institutions regulated under the Bank Act. Chartered banks are designated as Schedule I or Schedule II depending on their ownership.
• Combination Account — Definition,
  • An account that is part savings and part chequing. You may write cheques and you will be paid interest if you have enough money in the account.
• Commercial Bank (CB) — Acronym,
  • A financial institution that provides a broad range of services, from chequing and savings accounts to business loans and credit cards.
• Commercial Banking — Definition,
  • Commercial banking centres serve small to medium-sized businesses such as franchising, leasing and cash management services.
• Community Bank — Definition,
  • A bank that is locally owned and operated, but is not part of a bank holding company. Also referred to as an independent bank.
• Correspondent Bank — Definition,
  • A bank that holds deposits of another bank, usually a smaller bank, and in turn provides certain banking services that may not be readily available to the smaller bank.
• Credit Union (CU) — Acronym,
  • A non-profit, cooperative financial institution owned and controlled by the people who use its services, usually a group such as employees in the same company or industry. Credit unions historically have been able to offer lower rates and fees and still operate in the black. Credit unions rely on a financial reserve to absorb unexpected losses from loan defaults or other financial setbacks, and the majority of credit unions carry federal deposit insurance that protects individual accounts up to a specified amount in the event the credit union fails.
  ➥ Credit unions are member-owned, full service co-operative financial institutions.
• Four Pillars — Definition,
  • Refers to the main types of financial institutions: banking, trust, insurance, and securities.
• Independent Bank — Definition,
  • A locally owned bank that is operated without being affiliated with a bank holding company. Also known as a community bank.
• Interest (IN, int) — Acronym & Abbreviation,
  • Money paid for the use of borrowed funds, usually expressed as an annual percentage.
  ➥ Bank account transaction code.
• Interest Factor — Definition,
  • The decimal equivalent for an interest rate on a unit amount for a period of time. Computed by interest rate divided by number of days in a basic year times the number of days accrued.
• Interest Rate (IR) — Acronym, Very Important,
  • The rate a lender charges an individual to borrow money.
• International Banking — Definition,
  • The operation of bank branches and subsidiaries located outside Canada. This area of banking also includes the supervision of correspondent banking relationships, foreign exchange trading, and trade finance.
• Investment Banking (IBK) — Acronym,
  • Bank operations that manage a bank's funding position, as well as its holdings of Treasury bills, bonds and preferred and common stock.
• Lead Lender — Definition,
  • A financial institution which heads up a financial consortium or syndicate to provide funds for a mortgage.
• Lender — Definition,
  • The bank or mortgage company offering the loan.
• Mortgage Banker — Definition, Important,
  • An employee of a large bank who finds financing for the general public.
• Mortgage Broker (MB) — Acronym, Important,
  • One who finds clients perspective lenders at generally no cost. Mortgage Brokers have a special relationship with lenders and can offer their clients the best rates and service. CanEquity goes through great lengths to ensure you are serviced by the best Mortgage Brokers in Canada.
• Mortgagee — Definition, Important,
  • The lender in a mortgage transaction.
• Niche Banks — Definition,
  • Smaller banks that cater to particular communities or certain industries. These banks have been thriving in the fallout from mega-bank mergers.
• Onus Item — Definition,
  • A payment that is deposited at the same financial institution in which it was drawn or written. For example, a cheque that is written by one bank customer and deposited by the recipient at another branch of the same bank. These items are not cleared between institutions and therefore are not represented in statistics of payments exchanged between financial institutions in the clearings.
• Passbook — Definition,
  • A book used to record all banking transactions for a designated account.
• PC Banking — Definition,
  • A service that allows a bank customer to obtain account information and perform certain bank transactions through a personal computer.
• Posted Rate — Definition,
  • The mortgage rates initially offered by a bank which a borrower is then expected to negotiate down.
• Prime Lending Rate (PLR) — Acronym, Very Important,
  • The rate of interest charged on loans by chartered banks to their most creditworthy customers.
  ➥ Bank of Canada's prime (best) lending rate.
• Prime Rate — Definition,
  • The rate suggested by the Bank of Canada on which most banks base their prime mortgage lending rate.
• Promissory Note (PN) — Acronym,
  • A written promise to repay a loan by a specified time.
• Provision for Credit Losses (PCL) — Acronym, Canada,
  • The amount deducted from income equal to the amount by which a bank adjusts its loan balances to reflect anticipated losses on them.
  • A margin set by companies to compensate for losses due to unpaid credit.
• Regional Bank — Definition,
  • A bank with a primary market in a regional or metropolitan area but takes deposits from throughout the province in which it is located. Usually called a Credit Union in Canada.
• Retail Banking — Definition,
  • Banking services offered to individual customers such as savings accounts, personal loans, cheque cashing, and RRSPs.
• Schedule I Banks — Definition,
  • A designation in the Bank Act that refers to Canadian-owned banks that are widely held, i.e., ones in which no one owner holds more than 10% of shares.
• Schedule II Banks — Definition,
  • A designation in the Bank Act that refers to foreign-owned banks and closely held Canadian banks, i.e., banks in which an owner may hold more than 10% of outstanding stock.
• Schedule III Banks — Definition,
  • Foreign banks not incorporated under the bank act that are allowed to conduct business in Canada.
• Specialized Financing Corporation — Definition,
  • A term in the Bank Act referring to specialized business-management services such as making investments, negotiating mergers and acquisitions and many other services traditionally offered as merchant-banking services.
• Spread — Definition,
  • The difference between the interest rate charged to borrowers and the interest rate paid to depositors.
• Standby Commitment — Definition,
  • A commitment from a lender to make a loan in a specified period of time on specified terms with the understanding that the borrower will not likely draw down the funds.
• Statement — Definition,
  • A detailed record of transactions in a bank customer's account(s) for a certain period, usually each month, which shows debits, credits, transfers, payroll deposits, account balance, cheque fees, service and interest charges, ATM activity, etc.
• Third-party Originator — Definition,
  • One who takes all or part of the mortgage application and transfers or sells it to a lender.
• Usurious Rate — Definition,
  • An interest rate that is unnecessarily high or well above legal rates. For example, sometimes intangible property taxes are applied to income from usurious rates.