The banks are commercial enterprises and like many other businesses are organized as companies which are owned by shareholders. These shareholders， or their predecessors， provided the money to set up the banks and to enlarge them. This money is known as a bank‘s capital. But the shareholders' money is only a small part of the total amount of money which the clearing banks have at their command. Who provided the rest of this enormous sum？ The banks' customers. Banks， in effect， borrow from their customers as well as lend to them.

　　銀行是商業(yè)企業(yè)，它的組織結(jié)構(gòu)和其它企業(yè)一樣，是由股東共同擁有的公司型組織。這些股東，或者是公司創(chuàng)始人，提供資金設(shè)立銀行，并擴(kuò)大資金規(guī)模。這筆資金被稱為銀行的資本金。但是，股東的資金僅僅是資金總額中的一小部分，并由清算銀行控制。其余的大量資金由誰來提供呢？由銀行的客戶來提供。實際上，銀行從客戶那里借來資金，并向他們提供貸款。

　　The money which a bank obtains from its customers is generally known as its “deposits” and represents the balances which customers keep on their accounts with their banks. These accounts are of two main kinds： current accounts on which customers can draw cheques but receive no interest， and deposit and savings accounts on which the banks pay interest for the use of the money.

　　銀行從其客戶那里得到的錢，一般被稱為“存款”，代表客戶在銀行賬戶上持有的余額。這些賬戶主要有兩種：一種是活期存款，客戶可以對其開出支票，但沒有利息，另一種是儲蓄存款賬戶，銀行使用賬上的資金要支付利息。

　　Many people —— private individuals，manufacturers， traders， companies and official bodies —— choose to keep part of heir resources in the form of money. They need to do this mainly because they are continually having to make payments for the goods and services which they are buying and because they want to have resources immediately available. They could meet these requirements by keeping a stock of cash in the form of bank-notes and coin. But while notes and coins are a practical way of carrying out some small transactions， cash payments are a cumbersome， costly and， unfortunately， sometimes a dangerous method of settling most payments，especially if the money has to be sent any distance. It is more convenient， safer and more efficient to settle payments either by cheques drawn on a bank account， or through the banks‘credit transfer. Most of the payments made by businesses and Government in Britain and a large part of the payments made by private individuals are settled through the clearing banks.

　　許多人——個人、生產(chǎn)廠家、商人、公司和政府機(jī)構(gòu)——選擇持有一部分現(xiàn)金資產(chǎn)。這樣做的主要原因是他們必須為其所購買的商品和勞務(wù)支付款項，想在手頭留有現(xiàn)金。他們持有銀行鈔票和硬幣作為現(xiàn)金儲備，以滿足日常需要。然而，雖然在進(jìn)行小筆交易時一般都用現(xiàn)鈔、硬幣支付，但是對大多數(shù)結(jié)算來說，用現(xiàn)金支付既不方便、費用又高，有時甚至還有風(fēng)險，這風(fēng)險尤其存在于異地寄送現(xiàn)金。結(jié)算支付既可以用開立支票從其銀行戶頭付賬的方式，也可以通過銀行貸方劃撥，這樣做更方便、更安全，而且效率更高。由英國政府和企業(yè)作出的絕大部分支付，以及由私人作出的大部分支付都是通過清算銀行來進(jìn)行的。

　　The main reasons why customers keep money on accounts with commercial banks can be summarized as follows：

　　—— the banks provide an efficient and convenient method of making payments （ cheques，bank giros， standing orders etc. ）。

　　—— a bank deposit is safer and less troublesome than keeping a stock of cash. A commercial bank undertakes to provide cash on demand to a customer who keeps money on current account， and after a few day‘s notice to deposit account customers.

　　客戶在商業(yè)銀行賬戶上存錢的主要原因可以概括如下：

　　——銀行提供高效便捷的支付方式（支票、銀行直接貸記劃款單、銀行本票等）。

　　——銀行存款比持有現(xiàn)金更安全，麻煩也少。商業(yè)銀行承諾，有活期存款的客戶可以隨時提現(xiàn)，也可以在存款客戶通知幾天以后提現(xiàn)。

　　—— banks pay interest on deposit and savings accounts.

　　—— banks provide their customers with many other useful services. They will， for example，look after valuables， deal with investments， make payments to businesses and people abroad and provide financial information.

　　——banks will lend money to their customers.

　　For many purposes， “money in the bank” is money in its most convenient form.　　

　　 ——銀行對儲蓄存款支付利息。

　　——銀行向其客戶提供許多其它有用的服務(wù)。例如，保管貴重物品，辦理投資業(yè)務(wù)，對國外企業(yè)和個人進(jìn)行支付，以及提供金融信息。

　　——銀行向其客戶提供貸款。

　　“銀行的錢”由于用途廣泛，所以是最方便的錢。