BANK:

A financial organization that accepts deposits, makes loans, and directly controls a significant portion of the nation's money supply. In the olden days of the economy (before 1980), a bank was easy to identify because it had the word "bank" in it's name -- such as "First National Bank", "Second National Bank", etc. However, after several laws were passed in the early 1980s to reform and deregulate the banking industry, the term bank has come to functionally include other financial institutions that previously went by the titles of "Savings and Loan," "Credit Union," and "Mutual Savings Banks." These institutions are operationally considered banks because they all perform "banking" functions -- especially accepting checking account deposits and making loans.