Financial institution, such as a commercial bank or savings and loan association, that accepts deposits from the public and makes loans to those needing credit. By acting as a middleman between cash surplus units in the economy (savers) and deficit spending units (borrowers), a financial intermediary makes it possible for borrowers to tap into the vast pool of wealth in federally insured depositsª²accounting for more than half the financial assets held by all financial service companiesª²in banks and other depository financial institutions. The movement of capital from surplus units through financial institutions to deficit units seeking bank credit is an indirect form of financing known as intermediationª²consumers are net suppliers of funds, whereas business and government are net borrowers. A bank gives its depositors a claim against itself, meaning that the depositor has recourse against the bank (and, if the bank fails, the deposit insurance fund protecting insured deposits), but has no claim against the borrower who takes out a bank loan.