The article examines the participation of the banking system in long-term economic growth at the stage of 2001-2021 through the finance growth nexus concept. The purpose of this work is to reveal the various interaction options between financial market and the economy and to determine the place of the banking system in them. 44 countries are analyzed using 19 indicators that represent a standard data set in regressions with nonlinear relationships between financial and economic development. Indicators of industrial and financial structure are also included. Methods: clustering of countries (according to seven-year average growth rates of real GDP), comparative, statistical and correlation analysis at the average and country levels. According to the results, it is found that there is still a strong direct relationship between the long-term economic growth rate and the size of the real sector, achieved rates of savings and fixed capital formation. Two mechanisms for banks' participation in economic growth are revealed: the classical (through financial intermediation in the savings -investments nexus) and non-traditional (through the direct participation of financial sector in gross national income). It is shown that the first mechanism is typical for developing, and the second - for developed economies. The phenomenon of high heterogeneity of growth determinants across countries with similar rates of economic development is noted. The conditions for successful participation of banks in the economy are determined.