The fastest growing bank in the U.S. is Facebook (FB), writes Shamir Karkal, who says the company accepts deposits and provides means for payment – “pretty darn close to being a bank.”

The first thing to realize is that Facebook is in fact a bank. It doesn’t have a charter and its not regulated*, but it accepts deposits from consumers, and provides means for payment using those deposits. In my book, thats pretty darn close to being a bank.

Facebook Credits are really deposits
This becomes clear when you realize that you have to give Facebook money in exchange for those virtual Credits it [...]