Re: Commercial banks. From Wikipedia: "A
commercial bank is a type of
financial intermediary and a type of
bank. Commercial banking is also known as
business banking. It is a bank that provides checking accounts, savings accounts, and money market accounts and that accepts time deposits.
[1] After the
Great Depression, the U.S. Congress required that banks engage only in banking activities, whereas
investment banks were limited to capital market activities. As the two no longer have to be under separate ownership under U.S. law, some use the term "commercial bank" to refer to a bank or a division of a bank primarily dealing with deposits and loans from corporations or large businesses. In some other jurisdictions, the strict separation of investment and commercial banking never applied. Commercial banking may also be seen as distinct from
retail banking, which involves the provision of financial services direct to consumers. Many banks offer both commercial and retail banking services."
Not sure I get the distinction between Commercial and Retail banking, though.