A moneylender is someone whose business is to lend money to people, and then to be paid back — often with a lot extra on top (interest). The word usually points away from a high-street bank. It can mean a private person, a small firm, or, in older stories, the village figure you go to when the bank will not help. Though actually, the extra feeling in the word is often unkind: people hear high interest, hard terms, and trouble if you cannot pay. In modern news you may also meet it for informal or illegal lending. A bank lends money too, but we still say bank, not moneylender, when we mean the official place. The word is a little old-fashioned in some countries and still everyday in others; either way, it is not a compliment. It names the person (or the trade), not the cash itself.