How to understand the characteristics and role of commercial banks

Commercial banks have credit intermediary, payment intermediary, financial services, credit creation and regulation of the economy and other

functions in modern economic activities, and through these functions play an important role in national economic activities. The business activities of commercial banks have an important impact on the money supply of the whole society and become an important basis for the implementation of macroeconomic policies by the state.

1)Credit intermediation

Credit intermediation refers to the role of commercial banks as intermediaries linking deficit and surplus units in economic activities

Color. Credit intermediation is the most basic function of commercial banks, which plays a multi-level regulatory role in the national economy: it converts idle money into capital; makes full use of idle capital; and converts short-term funds into long-term funds.

2) Payment intermediary

Payment intermediary refers to the commercial banks with the help of the check this credit circulation tools, through the customer demand deposit account funds transfer

for the customer for the currency settlement, currency receipt and payment, currency exchange and deposit transfer and other business activities. Commercial banks play a payment intermediary function has two main roles: saving the circulation costs; reduce the bank's financing costs, expanding the bank's sources of funds.

3)Credit creation

Credit creation refers to the commercial banks through the absorption of demand deposits, the issuance of loans, so as to increase the bank's source of funds, expanding the social money supply. Commercial banks play the role of credit creation function is mainly through the creation of deposits and currency and other means of circulation and means of payment, not only can save the use of cash, reduce the cost of social circulation, but also to meet the socio-economic development of the means of circulation and the means of payment needed.

4) financial services

Financial services refers to the use of commercial banks in the national economy in a wide range of contacts, information and other special position and advantage, using

Using its credit intermediary and payment intermediary function in the process of obtaining a large amount of information with the help of advanced means and tools such as electronic computers, to provide customers with financial consulting, financing agents, trust leasing, The bank's financial services include financial counseling, financing agency, trust and leasing, collection and payment, and other financial services. Through the financial services function, commercial banks not only improve the use of information and information technology value, strengthen the bank and social ties, expanding the bank's market share; at the same time also gained a lot of fee income, improve the bank's profitability.

Two, characteristics

(1) commercial banks, like general business enterprises, are profit-oriented enterprises.

(2) Commercial banks are operating with financial assets and financial liabilities, and are operating with special commodities...a money and money capital.

(3) Commercial banks are again different from specialized banks. Commercial bank business is more integrated, more comprehensive, operating all financial "retail" business (door-to-door service) and "wholesale business" (large credit business), to provide customers with all the financial services. Specialized banks, on the other hand, concentrate only on businesses within a specified scope and provide specialized services. With the financial deregulation in Western countries, the business scope of specialized banks is also expanding, but compared with commercial banks, there is still a huge gap; commercial banks have an advantage in business operations.