According to the U.S Code a bank or trust company is incorporated and engaged in the business of financial transactions under the laws of the United States or of any State. A bank is a substantial part of the financial establishment and a quasi public institution licensed to receive deposits, make loans and currency exchange, issue money, transmit funds or exercise fiduciary powers similar to those permitted to national banks under the authority of the Comptroller of the Currency. There are several types of banks including retail banks, commercial or corporate banks, and investment banks. In Pue v. Hood, Comr. of Banks a bank is defined as “wholly a creature of statute doing business by legislative grace and the right to carry on a banking business through the agency of a corporation is a ‘franchise’ which is dependent on a grant of corporate powers by the state.”
A “bank” also means a domestic building or office in which such an establishment conducts transactions.
[Last updated in July of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]