On the whole, the banker's service to his customer does not consist in devising various schemes or plans to enable him to get credit, but does consist in studying his credit and determining the amount which the business man may safely use. When this amount has been settled upon, the distribution of it between different forms is primarily a matter of convenience or adjustment to business practice. It is undoubtedly the function of the banker to try to improve business practice. This is a long process and one which must be undertaken with tact and judgment. Success in it will be obtained not by artificially substituting one kind of paper for another, but by improving the underlying basis of credit, by shortening the period of credit extension where that is too great, and by securing the adoption of satisfactory practices on the part of the borrowers themselves.

The banker, however, can and must do what he is able to help his customer obtain funds as economically as possible. This means that he should and will encourage his customer to create paper that has the widest possible marketability. For example, under the Federal Reserve system certain paper is eligible to discount, while other paper is not. If the customer can be induced to present his paper to his banker in an eligible form, the latter is then able to feel assurance that it will be admitted to rediscount at Reserve bank if desired. He is, therefore, able to convert this part of his portfolio into immediate funds when-even he chooses, and for that reason he can afford to make a rate to the customer which is lower than he would charge were the paper not discountable at the Federal Reserve bank. In almost all cases, the customer who is doing a considerable business can put a portion of his paper into such a form and can thus obtain the advantage of the lowest market rate. Then, too, it may appear that the customer is financing his business by unnecessarily expensive methods. He may not be taking his cash discounts, but may be using his funds in other ways so that his purchases of goods are unnecessarily expensive. The banker can often show him how to reduce his costs for credit by obtaining the closest buying prices and providing him with the funds to take advantage of them. This, of course, implies good management on the part of the business man and willingness to observe the general suggestions of the banker with respect to the distribution of his resources among the various purposes to which they may be applied in the development of the business. It may also be that the customer has fallen into the habit of granting to those who buy from him an unduly long period of credit. Analysis of his statement and comparison of his borrowing position with that of similarly situated firms in the same line of business will show where improvements can be made. The banker is probably in better position to extend help of this kind than anyone else. It is, of course, true that the bank must stand ready to help its customer in adjusting himself to the needs and requirements of the trade he is carrying on. If, for example, the customer is an importer and the foreign seller of goods insists upon being paid through the issue of a banker's acceptance, the banker must stand ready to supply credit in that form if such action is requisite in order to meet the requirements of the foreign market. Out of this grows the fact that there are many different types of paper, and that even in the most conservatively operated bank the portfolio will frequently include all or a majority of them.