Commercial bank money

The term commercial bank money describes the portion of a currency which is made of book money – debt generated by commercial banks. It is the opposite of the terms central bank money, base money and sovereign money, which denote legal tender issued by a central bank or monetary authority.

Commercial bank money is created when banks make use of fractional reserve banking to create account balances and make loans worth many times the value of the actual base currency they hold (typically up to 10 times more).

When a bank creates account balances or lends out money which it does not actually have, that money is generated as scriptural money (book money) – debt claims against the bank by account holders and debt claims by the bank against borrowers.

Commercial bank money is not legal tender, but is widely used to represent base money in transactions. Commercial bank money currently makes up a large part of most currencies.

More on this topic:
Swiss savings account comparison

Request now for free

Cheap bank accounts with card

Swiss Bank

Bank WIR Bankpaket Top

  • Free account & card

  • No exchange fees for foreign payments (interbank exchange rates)

  • 24 ATM withdrawals worldwide per year free of charge

Swiss digital bank

Radicant

  • High interest on your everyday account

  • Best exchange rates

  • Up to 1% of card spending as saveback in the investment portfolio

Free bank account

Yuh

  • No account fees

  • Banking partner: Swissquote & Postfinance

  • CHF 20 trading credit with code «YUHMONEYLAND»

Swiss digital bank

Alpian

  • CHF 100 welcome bonus

  • Favorable foreign exchange rates

  • Multi-currency account with Visa card (CHF, EUR, USD, GBP) 

Online private account

UBS key4

  • 50 KeyClub points as a welcome gift

  • Online private account with debit card

Request now for free

Cheap bank accounts with card

Swiss Bank

Bank WIR Bankpaket Top

  • Free account & card

  • No exchange fees for foreign payments (interbank exchange rates)

  • 24 ATM withdrawals worldwide per year free of charge

Swiss digital bank

Radicant

  • High interest on your everyday account

  • Best exchange rates

  • Up to 1% of card spending as saveback in the investment portfolio

Free bank account

Yuh

  • No account fees

  • Banking partner: Swissquote & Postfinance

  • CHF 20 trading credit with code «YUHMONEYLAND»

Swiss digital bank

Alpian

  • CHF 100 welcome bonus

  • Favorable foreign exchange rates

  • Multi-currency account with Visa card (CHF, EUR, USD, GBP) 

Online private account

UBS key4

  • 50 KeyClub points as a welcome gift

  • Online private account with debit card

Deal of the Day
×
Swiss Bank

Bank WIR Bankpaket Top

Free account & card

Swiss bank packages comparison

Find the best bank offer now

Compare now
Trading platforms

Brokers with low fees

Swiss Trading Platform

Cornèrtrader Special Offer

  • Special offer: particularly favorable conditions for Moneyland users

  • No custody account fees for shares

  • Swiss online bank with FINMA license

Swiss Broker

Saxo Bank Special Offer

  • Special offer: Reimbursement of brokerage fees up to CHF 200 for 90 days

  • Licensed Swiss bank (FINMA)

  • Free expert research and trading signals

Request now for free

Leading credit cards

Free credit card

Swisscard Cashback Cards Amex

  • No annual fees

  • Two cards Amex & Visa/Mastercard

  • With cash back

Free credit card

Migros Cumulus Visa

  • No annual fees

  • With Cumulus points

  • Without foreign currency fees

Editor Daniel Dreier
Daniel Dreier is editor and personal finance expert at moneyland.ch.