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.

　　银行是商业企业，它的组织结构和其它企业一样，是由股东共同拥有的公司型组织。这些股东，或者是公司创始人，提供资金设立银行，并扩大资金规模。这笔资金被称为银行的资本金。但是，股东的资金仅仅是资金总额中的一小部分，并由清算银行控制。其余的大量资金由谁来提供呢？由银行的客户来提供。实际上，银行从客户那里借来资金，并向他们提供贷款。

　　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.

　　银行从其客户那里得到的钱，一般被称为“存款”，代表客户在银行账户上持有的余额。这些账户主要有两种：一种是活期存款，客户可以对其开出支票，但没有利息，另一种是储蓄存款账户，银行使用账上的资金要支付利息。 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.

　　许多人——个人、生产厂家、商人、公司和政府机构——选择持有一部分现金资产。这样做的主要原因是他们必须为其所购买的商品和劳务支付款项，想在手头留有现金。他们持有银行钞票和硬币作为现金储备，以满足日常需要。然而，虽然在进行小笔交易时一般都用现钞、硬币支付，但是对大多数结算来说，用现金支付既不方便、费用又高，有时甚至还有风险，这风险尤其存在于异地寄送现金。结算支付既可以用开立支票从其银行户头付账的方式，也可以通过银行贷方划拨，这样做更方便、更安全，而且效率更高。由英国政府和企业作出的绝大部分支付，以及由私人作出的大部分支付都是通过清算银行来进行的。

　　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.

　　--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.

　　客户在商业银行账户上存钱的主要原因可以概括如下：

　　——银行提供高效便捷的支付方式（支票、银行直接贷记划款单、银行本票等）。

　　——银行存款比持有现金更安全，麻烦也少。商业银行承诺，有活期存款的客户可以随时提现，也可以在存款客户通知几天以后提现。

　　——银行对储蓄存款支付利息。

　　——银行向其客户提供许多其它有用的服务。例如，保管贵重物品，办理投资业务，对国外企业和个人进行支付，以及提供金融信息。

　　——银行向其客户提供贷款。