Financial Institution

FINANCIAL INSTITUTION, the well­spring of eco­nom­ic life. The sim­plest it­er­a­tion of the cy­cle be­gins with a loan, con­tin­ues with de­posits, pay­ments and oth­er means of on­go­ing sus­te­nance, and ends with fore­clo­sure or fi­nal pay­off. After death, a phys­i­cal bank branch may be erect­ed to memo­ri­al­ize the spot where the de­part­ed busi­ness en­ti­ty once stood. This has be­come more fre­quent since the end of the Modern Age, as the cor­po­rate pop­u­la­tion de­clines and re­turns to a sim­pli­fied mod­el.