What are the differences between modern bank capital and money-lending capital in pre-capitalist societies?

Question

What are the differences between modern bank capital and money-lending capital in pre-capitalist societies?

Answer 1

The main difference is that in pre-capitalist times they did not charge interest on loans.  This is mainly because it was forbidden by the Catholic Church, however all the way back to Aristotle, philosophers (economics was considered "philosophy" until some time after 1776) generally agreed that it was not moral to make money off of money.  

You can read St. Thomas Aquinas for a more thorough explanation of the Church's stance on usury.  The reasoning is basically that by charging interest, you can enslave a person by making loans that collect more and more interest and can never be paid off.  A modern day example of this kind of lending is payday loans.  

Another example may be who can get a loan -- nowadays pretty much anyone can get a loan from the institution that we call a bank.  Back in the old times though, money was borrowed from individuals, and it was lended basically through who you knew, not how responsible of a borrower you were.  People without social connections did not have any way to borrow money, while the rich (those with social connections) were able to borrow money from each other and invest it in order to make more money.  The rich get richer...