A deposit is a specific sum of money taken and held on account, by a bank as a service provided for its clients. A financial institution wishing to take deposits are generally required be under financial supervision, and to hold a banking license. The sum of the held deposits represents an asset, which the bank in turn can use to give loans.
A deposit is also money paid by someone who rents or lends a good, e.g. a car or a shopping cart. The money is returned when the good is returned, after deduction of any rent not paid yet, and compensation for small damage. Small deposits are sometimes required on beverage containers in order to promote recycling, a policy adopted in Oregon, among other U.S. states (see container deposit legislation).
In politics, a deposit is a cash bond which must be lodged by electoral candidates with the electoral authorities, to be returned if they achieve a specified measure of success in the election and otherwise forfeit. In BritishParliamentary elections the deposit is £500 and is returned to candidates achieving 5% of the vote. (Until October 1985 the qualification was 12.5% of the votes).
In archaeology, a deposit is any layer context which has been lain down rather than cut. It is analogous to the geological stratum. Artefacts, ecofacts and structures are not considered deposits although they are found within them. Deposits can be natural or manmade. Natural deposits are usually waterlain or windblown whilst archaeological deposits are the natural by-product of activity and are created through formation processes .
