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    The Changing World of Banking

    Email your questions to our historian.

    OCC BuildingPress to Hear Banking has changed in many ways through the years. Banks today offer a wider range of products and services than ever before, and deliver them faster and more efficiently. But banking's central function remains as it has always been. Banks put a community's surplus funds (deposits and investments) to work by lending to people to buy homes and cars, to start and expand businesses, to put their children through college, and for countless other purposes. Banks are vital to the health of our nation's economy. For tens of millions of Americans, banks are the first choice for saving, borrowing, and investing.

    The history of the interaction between American banking and American government is the subject of this web-based exhibit. It focuses on the rise of the national banking system and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which was established to supervise it.

    More of the Changing World of Banking:
    1Introduction21790 to 1832 31832 to 1864

    4 1865 to 1914 5 1929 to 1970 61970 to Today
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