Before playing Oblivion, I recall many threads about banks being in Oblivon... was that just a hope or are there actual banks? I haven't seen any .... just curious..

No, you store items in your house.

What a shame, I was hoping I could use a bank to deposit gold and earn interest =(, very well then.

You can gamble. Thats sort of like intrest except constant. Just save and go.

I'm probably going to buy a house soon. However, can I like stack books on a shelf or something? I have lots of books, so yeah. I'd like to display them.

Use the new grab function.

Banks would be a cool mod.