> They make the deal (a loan/mortgage) and then skim some off the top.

Thanks to fractional reserve banking (i.e. institutionalized fraud), they also create new money along the way (i.e. debase the existing currency).

Thus, the amount they're skimming off is even more than one would originally think, since they're charging interest on something they didn't entirely have in the first place (second-order fraud).

That is quite the service being provided. How fortunate we all are!