Bank
9 cards from across every topic, each citing a source. Tap one to open it in the feed.
- Banks don't lend out your savings. They create new money.
When a bank grants you a €10,000 loan, it doesn't take the money from a vault. It credits €10,000 to your account and …
- How a credit bureau decides whether you're creditworthy.
Credit bureaus collect data on accounts, loans, contracts and missed payments and condense it into a probability that …
- How a rumour can kill a healthy bank.
Because banks hold only a fraction of deposits as cash, a bank can become insolvent when many customers withdraw at …
- How an IBAN catches a typo before money moves.
Digits three and four of an IBAN are check digits. To verify, the IBAN is rearranged, letters become numbers and the …
- How to reverse a wrong direct debit with one click.
With a SEPA direct debit, the payee pulls money from your account because you gave them a mandate. In return, you can …
- The credit-card setting that costs you hundreds of euros.
With a true credit card, the bank collects your spending and debits it once a month. Pay the full amount then and the …
- The most expensive loan is the one you never applied for.
An overdraft is a pre-approved facility on your current account. You sign nothing; the balance simply goes negative. …
- What happens to your money when your bank goes bust.
Across the entire EU, deposits are legally protected up to €100,000 per person per bank. If the bank fails, the …
- Your bank only has to hold 1% of your deposits in reserve.
Banks in the euro area must keep a fraction of customer deposits as minimum reserves at the central bank. Since 2012 …