bank

銀行　—　Institutions

A system that mediates payments on a ledger and creates deposits when it makes loans.

Banknote of the Banque Royale — A photograph of the real thing this term names.

Ten-cent note of a state-chartered bank — A photograph of the real thing this term names.

⚠ The essence of a bank is not a "vault" but a "ledger". When payments could be settled simply by rewriting numbers in a ledger without moving any metal, money began to cease being a physical object. "Lending out deposited money" is an introductory explanation; modern banks create deposits in the borrower's account when they make a loan (loans create deposits). This should be learned together with the factors that constrain such lending.