金融（英语：Finance），是“资金的融通”的省略语。金，指的是金子；融，最早指固体融化变成液体，也有融通的意思。所以，金融就是将黄金融化分开交易流通，即价值的流通。顾名思义意指融通资金、使资金融洽通达，是指在经济生活中，银行、证券或保险业者从市场主体（例如：储户、证券投资者或者保险者等）募集资金，并藉贷给其它市场主体的经济活动。从事这一业务的业者称之为金融业者。研究有关金融的学科称之为金融学。

从广义上说，政府、个人、组织等市场主体通过募集、配置和使用资金而产生的所有资本流动都可称之为金融。因此，不仅是金融业者，有关政府的财政，行业企业的行为、以及个人的理财都是金融的一部分。金融可以看作为资金的募集配置（筹资）、以及投资和融资（借钱买股）三类经济行为。

Finance is a field that deals with the study of investments. It includes the dynamics of assets and liabilities over time under conditions of different degrees of uncertainty and risk. Finance can also be defined as the science of money management. A key point in finance is the time value of money, which states that purchasing power of one unit of currency can vary over time. Finance aims to price assets based on their risk level and their expected rate of return. Finance can be broken into three different sub-categories: public finance, corporate finance and personal finance.