Unit 7. How do banks work?

Key Words and Phrases:

1. loan – позика 2. mortgage – застава 3. interest – відсоток 4. commercial bank - комерційний банк 5. national bank – національний банк 6. to charter – створювати

7. to supervise – контролювати 8. state bank – державний банк 9. merchandise – товари 10. currency – валюта, гроші 11. foreign exchange department – відділ обміну валюти 12. to exchange currency – обмінювати валюту

Read and translate the text:

Essentially, banks and other financial institutions such as trust companies and credit unions provide:

1. a safe place to keep your money;

2. services helping you to manage your money;

3. loans and mortgages.

It is important to realize that financial institutions do not just hold your money in a safe place. They make money by:

1. investing your money, for which they pay you interest;

2. lending you money, for which they charge you interest;

3. providing you with credit, usually in the form of a credit card.

The interest rate on credit cards on your unpaid balance is quite a lot higher than on a conventional loan.

Banks are different in different countries. Let’s speak about the banks in the United States of America. There, commercial banks are classified into two main groups. First, there are national banks. They are chartered and supervised by the Federal Government. Secondly, there are state banks. They are chartered and supervised by the state in which they are operated. All commercial banks can make loans to borrowers.

Major commercial banks in such cities as Tokyo, Paris, Rio cooperate with each other. In this way they finance import and export between countries.

An importer buys merchandise from another country using the currency of that country. For that purpose he buys this currency from the foreign exchange department of his bank. And in the same way if an exporter receives foreign money from sales to other countries, he sells this currency to his bank. By this method the currency of any country can usually be exchanged.

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Exercises in Reading and Comprehension.

Comprehension Questions

1. What do all commercial banks do?

2. What kinds of commercial banks in the USA do you know? What are they called?

3. Who supervises the operations of national banks?

4. What kind of currency does an importer generally use when he buys goods from another country?

5. What do you know about the “international exchange”?

6. What is the currency of this country called?

7. What is the exchange rate between your currency and the currency of the USA and Germany? How can you find it out if you don’t know it?

Vocabulary Practice

Choose the necessary word and put it in the sentence.

Merchandise, currency, commercial, foreign exchange, to finance, to supervise, to charter.

1. Federal government … and … all national banks.

2. International cooperation between banks makes it possible … imports and exports.

3. It is possible to convert American dollars to Swiss francs in … department.

4. The … of Germany is the mark.

5. All … banks make loans to borrowers.

6. If the importer buys … from another country he will pay for it in the currency of this country.

Read and translate the dialogue.