The posts above are incorrect about how banks work, but your question is spot on. Actually, banks always lend out money they don’t have - they can’t actually “l

The posts above are incorrect about how banks work, but your question is spot on. Actually, banks always lend out money they don’t have - they can’t actually “lend deposits”. The risk of what banks do is why banking licenses are hard to get and it’s so regulated. This primer from the Bank of England is very clear: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/quarterly-bulletin/2014/money-creation-in-the-modern-economy.pdf?la=en https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/quarterly-...