Evolution of the Role and Functions of Commercial Banks in the Economic System: A Theoretical and Historical Approach
Authors:   LLC «Financial Company «Ecofinance», Zhylinskyi Andriy I. 
Published: August 2024

The aim of the article is to deepen and develop the scientific foundations of the evolution of the functions and role of commercial banks in the economic system through the transformation of the essence of banking activities and the emergence of new financial instruments in historical retrospective. The article summarizes scientific approaches to describing the evolution of the functions of commercial banks in historical retrospective; the essence of the transformation of banking activity due to growing risks and competition in financial markets is disclosed; an extended list of functions of commercial banks in today’s conditions is provided; the dynamics of the number of commercial banks in the leading countries of the world and countries with emerging markets is analyzed; tendencies and prospects for the development of banking and functions of commercial banks in the context of globalization of the economy and the introduction of novel digital financial instruments are substantiated. A functional analysis of the role and importance of commercial banks in the economic system for the period from the 16th century AD to the present is carried out. It is emphasized that in modern conditions banks are turning into institutions for servicing speculative flows. At the same time, the main function of commercial banks – lending to the real sector of the economy – begins to fade into the background due to low profitability. The essence of banking activity and features of new functions of banks over the past 25 years are disclosed. It is emphasized that computerization and financial innovations have significantly changed the ways of functioning of commercial banks. These processes made it possible to introduce new forms of service and types of banking products, improve bank management, collect and process large amounts of statistical information, and expand the scope of activities of large banks beyond national borders. It is proved that the timeliness and continuity of saturation of the economy with monetary resources is influenced not only by the number of commercial banks, but also by the mechanism for ensuring solvency and effective redistribution of cash flows between owners of funds and recipients of credit resources – both individual banks and the banking system as a whole. Proposals on the role and importance of commercial banks for the economy, based on their ability to increase the efficiency of the functioning of the economic system, have been substantiated. The essence of the transformation function of banks is that, transforming the space, size, terms, risks, illiquid assets into liquid liabilities, liquidity, purchasing power, information, banks play an important role in the State, as it allows to reduce risks in the economic system and social costs. Prospect for further research in this direction is to determine the impact of transformation of the role and functions of commercial banks on the macro-financial stability of the State and global financial markets.