One of the most important roles of a financial intermediary is to facilitate consumption transformation, which enables the purchase of goods to be rearranged over time. People and firms need to be able to keep surpluses safely until they are required. Many studies have shown how important saving is, even to the poorest people.

From an institutional point of view, being able to mobilise deposits from people enables the whole process of intermediation to take place, as the funds can be lent to people who have a spending opportunity that they cannot satisfy from their immediate resources. There is an important obligation on intermediaries, however, to ensure the safety of deposits and in most countries legislation is in place to control deposit-taking institutions and protect people’s savings.