The Economics of Banking (Fourth Edition) examines trends and operations in banking within a microeconomic framework. Covering a range of topics, including global trends in banking, theories of the banking firm, economics analysis of bank behaviour, and much more, this book addresses the need for a user-friendly and mathematically accessible textbook in this subject area. Each successful edition has expanded on new and emerging developments in global banking. This fourth edition explores the challenge of fintech and non-bank financing to the banking market. It examines the implications of the digitisation of the means of payment on the banking system, and the emergence of the digital bank. It also addresses recent developments in shadow banking (both globally and with a specific focus on China), P2P, Islamic banks and challenger banks. The section on credit rationing and credit pricing has been expanded to include additional material on the geography of credit allocation and spatial rationing. China features strongly in the updated material on bank efficiency and competition. Bank regulation has also been updated to examine the recent changes in global bank regulation and particularly the application of Basel III standards to China and other Asian economies. ¿The Economics of Banking provides a sound theoretical basis for understanding bank behaviour, while requiring only a basic knowledge of microeconomics. The book is aimed at final year undergraduates undertaking a Banking & Finance degree, and to MBA and specialised PG degrees in Finance that include a Banking option.