Finance:Transaction banking

Transaction banking can be defined as the set of instruments and services that a bank offers to trading partners to financially support their reciprocal exchanges of goods (e.g., trade), monetary flows (e.g., cash), or commercial papers (e.g., exchanges). Transaction banking allows banks to maintain close relationships with their corporate clients, so banks don’t want to be disintermediated by other players. The transaction banking division of a bank typically provides commercial banking products and services for both corporations and financial institutions, including domestic and cross-border payments, risk mitigation, international trade finance as well as trust, agency, depositary, custody and related services. It comprises the Cash Management, Trade Finance and Trust & Securities Services businesses. Although some business banking depends on a third party for 3-5 working days, others take over 10 working days.

A number of global trends are leading to a renewed focus on the transaction banking sector. These trends include the globalization of trade, the increasing importance of liquidity management and a heightened emphasis on securing relationships in a world where both competition and clients are becoming more global and sophisticated. Transaction banking is also particularly attractive in the current economic context because it often has relatively low regulatory capital requirements.