The financial system is a reflection of the national economy and consists of financial markets, financial institutions and financial instruments. The financial system performs the central economic function of channeling funds from those who have a surplus to those who have a deficit. Depository institutions play an important role in the financial system by intermediating funds through financial markets. They collect funds from the general public and make them available in the form of loans. Deposit institutions include banks, savings banks, housing savings banks, credit unions and e-money institutions. The best known deposit institutions in the Republic of Croatia are the banks controlled by the Croatian National Bank. The CNB represents the central bank. The aim of this paper is to analyze the position and importance of deposit institutions in the financial system. The subject of the paper is the position and role of deposit institutions in the financial system, as well as the changes in the size and number of deposit institutions in 2015, 2016 and 2017. More specifically, the number of banks, savings banks and housing savings banks operating in the observed period was analyzed. At the end of the work, credit indicators of deposit institutions' operations were analyzed, with the help of which it was found that the majority of banks are foreign-owned, but also that the number of banks has decreased in the observed period. In addition, it is noted that the share of deposit institutions in the total financial system is very high, but the assets of deposit institutions have decreased over the years.