>Adam Smith's famous "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest" thesis is wrong because shopkeepers of the time mostly sold goods on credit and thus the customers were in fact depending on their benevolence.
It's not necessarily wrong though. Giving credit can still be a self-interest motivated action, in fact it would most often only be that - generating a higher reward to the risk taken by giving it - as banks try to manage. So yes, banks aren't run by benevolence, and they aren't the most benevolent entities on the planet (far from it) - they're just economically rational actors, that are benefited by offering credit.
It's not necessarily wrong though. Giving credit can still be a self-interest motivated action, in fact it would most often only be that - generating a higher reward to the risk taken by giving it - as banks try to manage. So yes, banks aren't run by benevolence, and they aren't the most benevolent entities on the planet (far from it) - they're just economically rational actors, that are benefited by offering credit.