Commercial banks are facing challenges and declining in importance, with their share of financial assets decreasing significantly. Competition from other financial institutions and markets has increased, giving customers more choices. Banks have also imposed large costs on society through crises. The question arises whether banks are still necessary. To answer this, we need to understand the functions banks perform and whether their current form is still useful. The traditional definition of a commercial bank includes offering demand deposits and originating loans. Money market mutual funds and finance companies do not fit this definition.