Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry.

The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies, stock brokerages, investment funds and some government sponsored enterprises

History of financial services

The term "financial services" became more prevalent in the United States partly as a result of the GrammLeach-Bliley Act of the late 1990s, which enabled different types of companies operating in the U.S. [2] financial services industry at that time to merge. Companies usually have two distinct approaches to this new type of business. One approach would be a bank which simply buys an insurance company or an investment bank, keeps the original brands of the acquired firm, and adds the acquisition to its holding company simply to diversify itsearnings. Outside the U.S. (e.g., in Japan), non-financial services companies are permitted within the holding company. In this scenario, each company still looks independent, and has its own customers, etc. In the other style, a bank would simply create its own brokerage division or insurance division and attempt to sell those products to its own existing customers, with incentives for combining all things with one company..

Banking services
The primary operations of banks include: Keeping money safe while also allowing withdrawals when needed Issuance of checkbooks so that bills can be paid and other kinds of payments can be delivered by post Provide personal loans, commercial loans, and mortgage loans (typically loans to purchase a home, property or business) Issuance of credit cards and processing of credit card transactions and billing Issuance of debit cards for use as a substitute for checks Allow financial transactions at branches or by using Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) Provide wire transfers of funds and Electronic fund transfers between banks Facilitation of standing orders and direct debits, so payments for bills can be made automatically Provide overdraft agreements for the temporary advancement of the Bank's own money to meet monthly spending commitments of a customer in their current account. Provide internet banking system to facilitate the customers to view and operate their respective accounts through internet. Provide Charge card advances of the Bank's own money for customers wishing to settle credit advances monthly. Provide a check guaranteed by the Bank itself and prepaid by the customer, such as a cashier's check or certified check. Notary service for financial and other documents Accepting the deposits from customer and provide the credit facilities to them.

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types of bank services

Private banking - Private banks provide banking services exclusively to high net worth individuals. Many financial services firms require a person or family to have a certain minimum net worth to [3] qualify for private banking services. Private banks often provide more personal services, such as [4] wealth management and tax planning, than normal retail banks. Capital market bank - bank that underwrite debt and equity, assist company deals (advisory services, underwriting and advisory fees), and restructure debt into structured financeproducts. Bank cards - include both credit cards and debit cards. Bank Of America is the largest issuer of bank [citation needed] cards. Credit card machine services and networks - Companies which provide credit card machine and payment networks call themselves "merchant card providers".

[edit]Foreign

exchange services

Foreign exchange services are provided by many banks around the world. Foreign exchange services include: Currency exchange - where clients can purchase and sell foreign currency banknotes. Foreign Currency Banking - banking transactions are done in foreign currency. Wire transfer - where clients can send funds to international banks abroad.

[edit]Investment

services

Asset management - the term usually given to describe companies which run collective investment funds. Also refers to services provided by others, generally registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as Registered Investment Advisors. Hedge fund management - Hedge funds often employ the services of "prime brokerage" divisions at major investment banks to execute their trades. Custody services - the safe-keeping and processing of the world's securities trades and servicing the [5] associated portfolios. Assets under custody in the world are approximately $100 trillion.

[edit]Insurance Main article: Insurance Insurance brokerage - Insurance brokers shop for insurance (generally corporate property and casualty insurance) on behalf of customers. Recently a number of websites have been created to give consumers basic price comparisons for services such as insurance, causing controversy within [6] the industry. Insurance underwriting - Personal lines insurance underwriters actually underwrite insurance for individuals, a service still offered primarily through agents, insurance brokers, andstock brokers. Underwriters may also offer similar commercial lines of coverage for businesses. Activities include insurance and annuities, life insurance, retirement insurance, health insurance, and property & casualty insurance. Reinsurance - Reinsurance is insurance sold to insurers themselves, to protect them from catastrophic losses.

[edit]Other

financial services

Intermediation or advisory services - These services involve stock brokers (private client services) and discount brokers. Stock brokers assist investors in buying or selling shares. Primarily internetbased companies are often referred to as discount brokerages, although many now have branch offices to assist clients. These brokerages primarily target individual investors. Full service and private client firms primarily assist and execute trades for clients with large amounts of capital to invest, such as large companies, wealthy individuals, and investment management funds. Private equity - Private equity funds are typically closed-end funds, which usually take controlling equity stakes in businesses that are either private, or taken private once acquired. Private equity funds often use leveraged buyouts (LBOs) to acquire the firms in which they invest. The most successful private equity funds can generate returns significantly higher than provided by the equity markets Venture capital is a type of private equity capital typically provided by professional, outside investors to new, high-potential-growth companies in the interest of taking the company to an IPO or trade sale of the business. Angel investment - An angel investor or angel (known as a business angel or informal investor in Europe), is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. A small but increasing number of angel investors organize themselves into angel groups or angel networks to share research and pool their investment capital. Conglomerates - A financial services conglomerate is a financial services firm that is active in more than one sector of the financial services market e.g. life insurance, general insurance, health insurance, asset management, retail banking, wholesale banking, investment banking, etc. A key rationale for the existence of such businesses is the existence of diversification benefits that are present when different types of businesses are aggregated i.e. bad things don't always happen at the same time. As a consequence, economic capitalfor a conglomerate is usually substantially less than economic capital is for the sum of its parts. Debt resolution is a consumer service that assists individuals that have too much debt to pay off as requested, but do not want to file bankruptcy and wish to payoff their debts owed. This debt can be accrued in various ways including but not limited to personal loans, credit cards or in some cases merchant accounts. There are many services/companies that can assist with this. These can include debt consolidation, debt settlement and refinancing.

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SocialFunds.com -- The two leading global socially responsible investment (SRI) index providers, the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI) and FTSE4Good, announced results of their annual reviews yesterday and today, and will reconstitute their indexes over the next weeks. High-profile names stud the DJSI lists, with McDonald's (ticker: MCD), Daimler-Chrysler (DCX), IBM (IBM), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), and Abbott Laboratories (ABT) amongst the 57 additions and Dow (DOW), Alcoa (AA), Fannie Mae (FNM), HJ Heinz (HNZ), Home Depot (HD), Mattel (MAT), and VW (VOW) amongst the 54 deletions. While the FTSE4Good lists are also populated with some well-known companies, such as Georgia-Pacific (GP) and Walgreen (WAG) amongst the 24 deletions and Cinergy (CIN) and MCI (MCIP) amongst the 42 additions, their most striking feature is the sector concentration of the deletions list.

Fully half (11 of 22) of the companies deleted for failing to meet FTSE4Good's Environmental Criteria inhabit the banking and financial services sector, including AmSouth Bancorporation (ASO), Bank of New York (BK), Charles Schwab (SCH), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Keycorp (KEY), National City (NCC) and US Bancorp (USB). On the other side of the same coin, banks and financial services companies account for more than a quarter (15 of 57) of the DJSI additions list, including Bear Stearns (BSC), Goldman Sachs (GS), H&R Block (HRB), Nomura Holdings (NMR), the London Stock Exchange (LDNXF.PK), and Provident Financial (PFG.L). While financial service companies were previously considered to be far removed from issues of social and environmental sustainability, a sea change has occurred in the last few years in the understanding of how financial services impact society and the environment. For example, more than 30 banks worldwide have now voluntarily adopted the Equator Principles, which require them to assess the social and environmental impact of project financing over $50 million. And the Enhanced Analytics Initiative (EAI) provides financial inducements for sell-side analysts to assess corporate social and environmental performance in their buy, sell, and hold recommendations. Indeed, financial services companies sit at the fulcrum of the investment transaction, making their commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) a key driver of socially responsible investment. In other words, the more banks and financial service companies qualify for SRI indexes, the more likely they will be to further fuel the growth of SRI. "We are excited about the accelerating momentum that [the sustainability investments] market has created," said Alex Barkawi, managing director of Sustainable Asset Management (SAM), which administers the DJSI. "Assets are up, mainstream brokers are moving in, and investment managers are expanding their offerings." Two weeks before qualifying for the DJSI, Goldman Sachs issued a report authored by Abby Joseph Cohen and Michael Moran entitled The Growing Interest in Environmental Issues is Important to Both Socially Responsible and Fundamental Investors. As the title suggests, the report endeavors to tear down the wall between social and mainstream investors by pointing out that issues such as climate change know no boundaries. "[W]e take the position in this introductory paper that whether or not an individual investor is convinced that antropogenic, that is, manmade GHGs [greenhouse gases] are leading to changes in the Earth's climate, this issue will have implications for the financial markets and for corporate performance," write Ms. Cohen and Mr. Moran (emphasis in original). Why did DJSI add so many banks and financial service companies, while FTSE4Good deleted so many? DJSI utilizes a best-in-class approach, rewarding best practice on sustainability issues. Many banks and financial service companies recognize the increasing importance of addressing social and environmental issues in their sector, and hence are striving toward best practice. DJSI's annual review recognizes this progress in the 15 financial service companies added to its ranks (and deleted only three.) On the other hand, FTSE4Good utilizes negative screens while also employing an approach of raising the bar on social and environmental performance criteria incrementally to promote gradual and achievable improvement from companies. In May 2002, the FTSE4Good Policy Committee approved new, more stringent environmental criteria for inclusion in the indexes, and the recent review revealed

almost a dozen banks and financial service companies that have not raised the bar on their own environmental performance. "FTSE operates an engagement program throughout the year to support and assist companies to understand and meet the FTSE4Good criteria," said Mark Makepeace, CEO of the FTSE Group. "This is what gives FTSE4Good its unique benefit, it works not only to facilitate investment in companies demonstrating good CSR management, but also as a valuable source for listed companies to benchmark themselves against current best practice standards."

Banking and Financial Services

Banks and financial institutions today face challenges of various forms and magnitude. Customer acquisition and retention, regulatory pressures, pricing pressures, global markets, plethora of IT applications and a constant need to deliver profits quarter after quarter, are some of the challenges for banks and financial institutions. Such institutions are facing a dilemma of sorts - the macro economic scenario has meant that costs have to be kept under control, yet there is a pressure to keep growing and consider factors like productivity, information availability, product and service differentiation, and innovation in many cases. MindTree's Banking and Financial Services unit has been partnering with banks and financial institutions to help them achieve their tactical as well as strategic objectives. We have been working with banks to simplify the overall process of outsourcing and offshoring.

Atm services

ATM
At Axis Bank ATMs, a host of your needs are met, ensuring ease of conducting both banking and non-banking transactions, without having to visit the branch. Use our wide network of over 7591 ATMs (as on 30th of Sep'11) providing 24 hrs a day banking convenience to its customers. This is one of the largest ATM networks in the country. Facilities offered Balance inquiry Check available balance, with the option of printing a receipt as well. Cash withdrawal Withdraw cash quickly and conveniently at any one of our ATMs with MasterCard and VISA cards. PIN change Change your ATM/Debit Card PIN number, ensuring the continued safety of your account. Mini Statement Check the last 7 transactions carried out on your card. You can avail of a printed copy as well. VISA money transfer Select Special Services from the menu, mention your beneficiary's VISA number and just tell us the amount of money you wish to transfer. To know more about VISA money transfer, please click here Money transfer between linked accounts You can also transfer money between your linked accounts. Request for a new chequebook You don't need to visit any of our branches just to place a request for a new cheque book, just walk into the nearest Axis Bank ATM. Your new cheque book will be delivered at your doorstep. Mutual Fund payment Purchase or redeem units of any UTI MF scheme without filling any forms or writing cheques. To know more about this service please visit your nearest Axis Bank branch or call Customer Care. Insurance Premium payments Make your premium payments easy. Pay premiums on policies through our ATMs. Register for SMS Banking/NETSECURE If you wish to avail of SMS Banking or NETSECURE, you don't need to visit the branch. Just visit your nearest ATM and register your mobile number.