There are ten banks left in Moldova. Few people remember now, but during the dawn of banking activity, 17 commercial banks were operating in the country at the same time. That’s at the same time. In reality, there were much more. But even today, as well as 35 years ago, many experts, especially foreign ones, believe that three to five banks would be enough for such a small country as Moldova. There is another opinion: every market participant has its own client, even in such a financially capacious sector as banking – even if the loan portfolio of a commercial bank (CB) is smaller than that of a non-banking credit organization (NCO). Still, the requirements for CBs are more stringent than for NCOs, and one must comply with them. It is not always necessary for NCOs to become banks.