Dennis K. Berma, May 30, 2016 – “The question is so simple it seems silly: What is a bank? Of course you know the answer. A bank pools savings and then allocates that capital. Simple, right? But that’s just the start. In 2016 a big bank also doubles as an enterprise software company and a mobile-apps developer. It is a customer-service organization to big companies and individuals alike. It is a tool of government-mandated social policy. A shareholder-return engine. An international intermediary. A seller and trader of securities. A policeman of criminals. A policeman of itself. And, of late, a public vessel, dirtied by political feeling about everything from inequality to race to Congress to the U.S. Constitution itself. In a series of stories over the coming week, The Wall Street Journal will explore the simple, if beguiling, conundrum about banks today: What are they now? And what will they become?”