Banks play five key roles: as intermediaries between savers and borrowers, facilitating payments, providing guarantees for customer debts, acting as agents for customers, and serving government policy goals. When lending, banks aim for loans to be safe, liquid, and profitable. Banking services include lending via overdrafts, loans, and personal loans. Banks also facilitate payments through current accounts, direct debits, standing orders, and cash dispensers. Other services include deposit accounts, savings accounts, credit cards, safe deposit boxes, night safes, computer services, hire purchase, tax management, insurance, and investment management.

1. Banks Roles:
1 - The intermediation role: Transforming savings received primarily from
households into credit (loans) for business firms and others in order to
make investments in new buildings, equipment, and other capital
goods.
2 - The payments role: Carrying out payments for goods and services on
behalf of their customers (such as by issuing and clearing checks, wiring
funds, and dispensing currency and coin)
3 - The guarantor role: Standing bind their customers to pay off customer
debts when those customers are unable to pay (such as by issuing
letters of credit).
4 - The agency role: Acting on behalf of customers to manage and protect
their property or issue and redeem their securities (usually provided
through the bank's trust department).
5 - The policy role: Serving as an instrument or mechanism for
government policy in attempting to regulate the growth of the economy
and pursue social goals.
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2.  The perfect banking advance therefore should be:
(1) safe;
(2) liquid; and
(3) profitable.
These requirements will seldom be present together, so that most
of the time the banker is working out an acceptable compromise,
and exercising the art of lending to the end that.
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3. BANKING SERVICES
FIRST: LENDING MONEY
(1) overdraft
Interest is calculated on a daily basis. The advance will be
agreed subject to repayment in full at a certain time, or by
periodic installments to extinguish the overdraft after a certain
time.
Interest rate is fixed by reference to the bank’s base rate. The
overdraft is taken on the current account.
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4. (2) loan
The amount agreed is transferred from a newly-opened loan account to the
customer’s current account.
The loan is reduced at agreed intervals, often monthly, by transfers from the
current account. Loan interest is charged quarterly or half-yearly on the amount
of the loan still outstanding, and is charged to the current account.
The rate of interest is fixed by reference to the bank’s base rate.
(3) personal loan
Interest is added to the amount borrowed and the total is then re-paid by
regular monthly repayments, over an agreed period, usually anything from six
months to three years. The borrower has to make out an application give certain
details of his income and regular outgoings.
Personal loan gives the bank no rights over the object purchased with the money
lent, but the agreement requires that if any installment is not paid on time, the
whole of the remaining debt should re-pay immediately. This gives the bank a
right to bring an action for the money.
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5. Second:
1- Current Accounts: The normal banking account, running from day to day,
a balance being shown at the end of the day if there has been any
transaction on the account. The balance should be credit all the time.
No interest is normally allowed on a current account by most of banks but
interest can be obtained with the Co-operative Bank, the Trustee Savings
Banks and the National Savings Bank.
Direct Debiting:
Here the creditor of an installment payment makes, by arrangement with the debtor, a
direct claim on the debtor’s account. This procedure saves time and money and is very
suitable for large creditors such as insurance companies and building societies, The
customer has to approve the arrangement before any transfers are made, and
authorize his banker to meet the claims. Regular payments so authorized continue
until further notice by the customer. The customer should be aware about his account
balance should be enough on the time, otherwise, a charge and fines will be applied.
Standing orders:
Customers who have a regular payment to make, such as mortgage or rate
installments, may give their bank a written authority to make the payments on their
behalf to the debit of their current accounts, until further notice, or for a fixed number
of payments, or until a certain date.
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Cash Dispenser:
A machine designed to give the customer access to a small amount in
notes, principally intended for use during the closing hours of the bank. It
consists of a safe let into the outer wall of the bank with a keyboard. The
customer is issued with a cash card having an electronic check by the
machine. If this is satisfactory the customer is then enabled to key his
personal code number on the keyboard, which will prompt the machine to
deliver required amount in EGP. 10 or any amount in notes.
Collection of cheques:
The customer receives cheques from his debtors and pays these into his bank
either over the counter, or by post.
The cheques are sorted by the recipient bank and at the end of the day are
dispatched to their Cairo office, who presents them to the drawee banks through
the Clearing House. The clearing procedure takes three working days and if a
cheque is dishonored the collecting branch will be notified. The customer’s account
is credited on the day that he pays the cheque in, but he should not draw against
them until they are cleared (unless he has an agreement with the bank that he may
do so).

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2- Deposit Accounts:
Money is put on deposit accounts to earn interest. Deposit interest is paid at
a rate determined by the bank’s base rate. No cheque book is issued.
Withdrawals are nominally at seven days’ notice, but money can be obtained
on demand, subject to a forfeiture of seven days’ interest on the sum
withdrawn. Interest is credited to the current account, if there is one, half-
yearly, otherwise it is added to the balance of the deposit account.
Fixed deposits of lager sums can be arranged for an agreed term at rather
better rates.
Budget scheme:
This is a scheme whereby a customers’ regular payments out over a year are
evened out and debited to him by equal monthly sums. The customer advises
his bank of the details of his expected outgoings (e.g. electricity, gas,
telephone, fuel, insurance, licenses, school fees, holidays, clothing,
subscription, maintenance, etc). The bank totals the annual cost, opens a
budget account for the customer, and issues him with a special budget
account cheque book. Thereafter the bank will debit the customer’s ordinary
current account, and credit the budget account, with a monthly sum equal to
one-twelfth of the annual total. The service costs a few pounds per year.

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Savings Account:
Accounts maintained for small amounts, designed to encourage saving by
young people. They carry interest. Withdrawals may be made at any time at
the branch where the account is kept, up to any amount, on production of
the savings book; and at any branch of the bank.
3- Credit Cards: Credit cards are similar in size and general appearance to Debit cards,
and contain similar details. The best known cards in this country are Visa, and American
Express. With the credit card, goods can be bought in a shop, hotel bills paid, meals out
paid for, air fares met, in many parts of the world. The retailer sends in his account to
the card company which sends out monthly statements to each cardholder. The
cardholder should pay the statement during 45-60 days.

9. Third: Other Services:
1- Safe Custody:
Articles of value, wills, and many other things can be left by customers with their
banks for safe keeping. Everything must be either placed in a locked box, the customer
retaining the key, or sealed in a parcel. The bank will issue a receipt if it is asked to do
so. The bank may make no specific charge for this service. Some banks maintain a safe
deposit service, where the customer is given access to the strong-room and himself
puts the articles or documents of value into his box, or safe cubicle, to which he alone
has the key, or takes them out.
2- Night Safe:
A customer wishing to pay in regularly after the bank has closed may be offered a night
safe wallet. He puts his credit and the cash in the wallet, locks it, and then inserts it in
an opening in the outer wall of the bank so that it falls into the night safe. The
entrance to the chute has a locked cover to prevent undesirable items being inserted.
In the morning the bank’s staff clears the night safe and sort out the two types of
wallet available. The service is particularly suitable for shop keepers wishing to bank
their days’ takings after the shop has been shut, and avoids their having to take the
money home with them or leave it in the shop.
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3- Computer Services:
Selling a bank of time on one of its computers to a customer who has no
computer of his own, but has a need from time to time for the use of one.
4- Hire-purchase:
Hire purchase is now an integral part of the nation’s trade. The purchaser
deals with the seller and the finance company finances the deal by paying
the seller and accepting installments from the buyer. The regulations
details to be specified for the benefit of the purchaser include the cash
price of the goods or the amount of the loan, the cost of credit, the number
and amount of installments and the total sum payable. The true interest
rate must be specified, so that the purchaser can compare rates under
different contracts.

11. 5- Income Tax Management:
This work consists of preparing the customer’s annual statement of
income and outgoings, claiming any allowances applicable, checking that
the customer gets any rebate to which he is entitled and, generally, pays
no more tax than he is obliged.
The income tax department will also advise on ways to minimize tax
payable, such as the setting up of certain trusts.
6- Insurance:
The bank’s insurance department will arrange cover for any requirement
of the customer, such as fire insurance, car and house insurance, and
holiday insurance. The bank acts as an agent in this business, obtaining
the best rate possible from insurance companies. A big advantage for
customers of insurance cover effected through a bank is the complete
reliability of that cover.
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7- Investment Management:
The bank’s investment department will manage the portfolio of customers,
attending to registrations, rights issue or bonus shares.
The bank will review the securities in the portfolio from time to time, make any
sales or purchases as seem desirable, and keep a running valuation of the
portfolio.
To be able to do this, the bank must have the investments transferred into its
name. It will collect the dividends and interest and credit them to the
customer’s account. An annual fee is charged, based upon the market value of
the portfolio.