A commercial bank is a financial intermediary. It accepts the deposits from the surplus units and lends these financial resources to the deficit units. Commercial Banks play a very prominent role in the financial system of an economy. Now Check out Commercial Bank Vs Central Bank.
Functions of a Commercial Bank
Modern commercial banks perform a variety of functions and provide a number of services to their customers. They are regarded as departmental – store banks because they provide a wide variety of services to their customers.
Various functions performed by commercial banks are as follows:
acceptance of deposits, advancing of Loans, credit creation, facilitation of payments through cheques, transfer of funds, agency functions and other Miscellaneous Services.
Central Bank
Central Bank is the apex of the banking system in a country. It controls, regulates and supervises the activities of the banks and the country’s banking system. In our country the Central Bank was established in 1935 under private management. It was nationalized by the Government in 1949 and named as RBI.
Objectives of the Central Bank:
The Central Bank functions with the objectives given below:
- To maintain the internal value of currency.
- To preserve the external value of currency.
- To ensure price stability.
- To promote financial institutions.
- To promote economic development
Difference Between Commercial Bank and Central Bank
check out Distinction between the Central Bank and the Commercial Bank –
| Basis of distinction | Central banks | Commercial banks |
| Monetary Authority | Enjoys supreme monetary authority with wide powers | No authority, hence no such power is enjoyed. |
| Profit motive | It does not exist to make profits of its for owners | It exists and is organized for profits their owners |
| Money supply to the economy | It is the ultimate source of money supply to the economy. | No such function is performed by it. |
| Services rendered | It acts as a banker to the government | It acts as a banker to private industrial and institutions |
| Chance of failure | It is the lender of last resort and hence never fails | It often undertakes risky business activities and sometimes may fail. |
| Service to the public | It neither does accept deposits from public, nor lends money to the public. | Accepting deposits and lending money to the public are the most important functions of commercial banks. |
| Ownership and managing Authority | It is generally subordinate to the state, i.e. state owned and state managed. | It is mostly privately owned and privately managed. |
| Nature of operation | It issues paper notes in fact it enjoys the monopoly power in this matter | Its nature operation is credit creation and cannot issue paper notes |
| Basis of operation | The basis of cash money issued is gold and foreign reserve. | The basis of credit money generated is cash deposit. |
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