Financial Services

Banks

Commercial banking services:

A commercial bank is what is commonly referred to simply as a bank. The term "commercial" is used to distinguish it from an investment bank, a type of financial services organization that, rather than lending money directly to a business, helps businesses raise money from other firms in the form of bonds (debt) or equity (equity).

The main operations of commercial banks include:

• Keeping your money safe and allowing you to withdraw funds when needed
• Issuing check books for paying bills and mailing other types of payments
• Providing personal loans, commercial loans and mortgage loans (usually loans for the purchase of a home, real estate or business)
• Issuing credit cards and processing credit card transactions and billing
• Issuing debit cards for use as a replacement for checks
• Authorization of financial transactions in branches or using ATMs
• Providing non-cash fund transfers and electronic fund transfers between banks
• Simplify recurring payments and direct debits so bill payments can be made automatically
• Providing overdraft agreements for the temporary advance of the bank’s own funds to fulfill the client’s monthly spending obligations on the current account.
• Providing an Internet banking system to make it easier for customers to view and manage their accounts online.
• Providing credit card advances of the bank's own money to customers who wish to pay monthly credit advances.
• Providing checks guaranteed by the bank itself and prepaid by the customer, such as a cashier's check or certified check.
• Notary services for preparation of financial and other documents
• Accepting deposits from clients and providing them with lines of credit .
• Sale of investment products .

Investment banking services:

• Debt and equity underwriting for the private and public sectors for such organizations to raise capital.
• Mergers and Acquisitions - Work on underwriting and advising companies on mergers or acquisitions.
• Structured Finance - Developing complex (usually derivative) products for high net worth individuals and institutions with more complex financial needs.
• Restructuring – Assistance in financial reorganization of companies
• Investment Management – ​​Manage assets (such as real estate) to achieve clients' specific investment goals.
• Securities Research - Have your own department that assists its traders, clients and maintains a public position on specific securities and industries.
• Brokerage services - Buy and sell securities on behalf of your clients (sometimes may also include financial consulting).
• Prime brokerage is an exclusive type of packaged brokerage service specifically designed to serve the needs of hedge funds.
• Private Banking - Private banks provide banking services exclusively to high net worth individuals. Many financial services firms require an individual or family to have a certain minimum net worth to qualify for private banking services.

Currency exchange services

FX or currency exchange services are provided by many banks and specialist currency brokers around the world. Currency exchange services include:

• Currency exchange – where customers can buy and sell foreign currency notes.
• Bank transfer is where customers can send funds to international banks abroad.
• Remittance is when clients who are migrant workers send money back to their home country.

Investment services

• A collective investment fund is a fund that acts as an investment pool so investors can put money into a fund that will reinvest it in different securities depending on their overall investment objective.
• Investment Advisory Offices - Operated by registered investment advisors who provide financial planning advice to clients and invest their money.
• Hedge funds often use the services of "prime brokerage" units at large investment banks to execute their trades.
• Private equity funds are typically closed-end funds that typically take controlling stakes in businesses that are either privately held or become privately owned through acquisition. Private equity funds often use leveraged buyouts (LBOs) to acquire firms in which they invest. The most successful private equity funds can generate returns that significantly exceed those provided by the stock markets.
• Venture capital is private equity capital typically provided by professional outside investors to new companies with high growth potential in order to take the company to an IPO or trade sale of the business. Startup companies are typically backed by angel investors.
• A family office is an investment and management firm that looks after a wealthy family or small group of wealthy individuals with financial plans tailored to their needs. Similar to private banking.
• Advisory Services - These firms (or departments within a larger organization) serve clients through financial advisors who act as both a broker and a financial advisor.
• Custody services – storing and processing global securities transactions and servicing related portfolios. ^]

Insurance

• Insurance brokers purchase insurance (typically corporate property and casualty insurance) on behalf of clients. Recently, several websites have been created to give consumers basic price comparisons for services such as insurance, which has caused controversy in the industry.
• Insurance Underwriting - Personal lines insurance underwriters actually write insurance for individuals, a service that is still offered primarily through agents, insurance brokers and stockbrokers. Underwriters may also offer similar commercial lines of coverage to businesses. Businesses include insurance and annuities, life insurance, retirement insurance, health insurance, property and casualty insurance.
• Finance and insurance is a service that is still offered primarily at dealerships. F&I manager involves financing and insuring the asset that is sold by the dealer. F&I is often referred to as "second gross" by dealerships that have adopted this model
• Reinsurance - Reinsurance is insurance sold to insurers themselves to protect them from catastrophic losses.

Other financial services

• Business angels can create their own network, which will become the financial basis for future companies.
• Credit card networks are companies that serve as a bridge between retailers and banks that issue bank cards.
• Conglomerates - a financial services company, such as a universal bank, that operates in more than one sector of the financial services market, such as life insurance, general insurance, health insurance, asset management, retail banking, wholesale banking, investment banking, etc. The key rationale for the existence of such businesses is the diversification benefits that come with aggregating different types of businesses. As a consequence, the economic capital for a conglomerate is usually substantially less than the economic capital for the sum of its parts.
• Debt Settlement - A consumer service that helps individuals who have too many debts to pay off as requested, but who do not want to file for bankruptcy and want to pay off their debts. This debt can be accrued in a variety of ways, including but not limited to personal loans, credit cards, or in some cases, merchant accounts.
• Financial market utilities are organizations that are part of the financial services infrastructure, such as stock exchanges, clearing houses, derivatives and commodity exchanges, and payment systems such as real-time gross settlement systems or interbank networks.
• Payment Recovery - Helps you recover money unintentionally paid to suppliers by businesses, for example due to an accidental duplicate invoice payment or non-return of a deposit.

Financial export

Financial export is a financial service provided by a domestic firm (regardless of its form of ownership) to a foreign firm or individual.

While financial services such as banking, insurance and investment management are often viewed as domestic services, an increasing share of financial services are now provided overseas in other financial centers for a variety of reasons.

Alternative financial service (AFS) is a financial service provided outside of traditional banking institutions on which many low-income individuals depend.

In developing countries, these services often take the form of microfinance. In developed countries, services may be similar to those provided by banks and include payday loans, rent-to-own agreements, pawn shops, payday loans, some subprime mortgages and car loans, as well as non-bank check cashing, money orders and money transfers. It also includes traditional money lending through door-to-door collection.

Alternative financial services are typically provided by non-bank financial institutions, although personal lending and crowdfunding also play a role.