Lending below the real (inflation adjusted) interest rate is very common, and this is the main case. If there is an average of 2% inflation, a deposit of 0% nom

Lending below the real (inflation adjusted) interest rate is very common, and this is the main case. If there is an average of 2% inflation, a deposit of 0% nominal interest is -2% of real interest rate. But even at 0% nominal interest rate (in periods of low inflation), you see organizatons lend at below 0%, if the risk is zero or close to zero (such as when a bank is lending to the central bank). In fact, throughout history, savings were usually stored in some commodity. The most common ones were grain and gold. Storing grain and gold is not easy, you have to ward off rats, thieves, rot etc. So throughout history, people have been paying granaries, goldsmiths, banks and others a fee for storing their commodities. If a granary were almost full, the owner migth decide to sell some of the grain, and gain profit, instead of storing all the grain under his supervision. This would be relatively safe if the reserve was big enough, and if he would have ways to cover a "granary run".