If you are new to banking, then it can seem like a confusing subject. All the different banks, accounts and cards on offer can make the task of starting to bank a daunting one. However, the basics of banking are quite simple, and once you know them you will be on your way to all types of monetary products. Here are the basics of banking and how they can help you look after your money:

Why get a bank account?

Using banks and having a bank account has become an essential part of society. Once you start working or have incoming and outgoing money, you really need to get yourself a bank account. Banks are an easy and convenient place to store your money, and allow you to access it various places. Although there are alternatives such as credit unions, banks are the easiest and most readily available tools to store and access your money.

Basic bank accounts

To get started with banking you will need to open a basic bank account. Deciding which account and bank is right for you can take some research, but once you have decided this you need to open an account. Basic accounts usually issue you with a chequebook and a debit card. If you have regular income then you may also be entitled to a credit card, but at first it is best to stick to the basics.

How to get an account

To get an account you usually apply at your local bank, and they will ask for forms of identification as well as checking your credit report to see if you have mishandled bank accounts in the past. Getting a bank account is usually not very hard, and as long as you have identification and can pay some money into the account you should be able to get one.

Using at ATM

Once you have an account open you will be issued with a cash or debit card, which you can use in an ATM or cash machine. This card is protected with a unique 4-digit PIN number. You will be issued with a number to start with, but you can change this at any time. To take cash out you simply place your card in the machine, type in your number and then follow the instructions. You can also buy items with your card in shops or online by quoting your card number or entering your PIN in a machine.

Using a chequebook

You may also be given a chequebook with your account. A cheque is something you can use to pay for items and also to pay other people. You right who the cheque is payable to, and the amount, and then that person can put the cheque in their account. This will usually take a few days to clear so it is a good way to spend money if you are low on cash right now but will have money in your account in the next day or two.

Do you have a bank account? If you do then you are one of the billions of individuals that do. If you do not have a bank account, you are missing out on the many benefits of banking.

The benefits of banking, there are many who wonder exactly what they are. If you are interested in opening up a bank account with a finical institution, but you have yet to do so, you may be wondering what the benefit of banking are. There are an unlimited number of banking benefits. To determine how you can benefit from having a bank account, it is important to examine your needs.

Bank accounts are often obtained because they allow you to have money. If you are employed, it is likely that you will receive a paycheck. There are many financial institutions that you will charge you a fee each time you go to cash in your paycheck. This fee is typically assessed to those individuals who do not have a bank account. While the fee may not seem like a large amount of money at the time, the fees can easily add up. By opening up a savings account or a checking account, you will not be subject to these fees.

Having a bank account often means having a safe place to store your money. If you do not have a bank account, it is likely that you are carrying around large amounts of cash. It is advised, no matter where you live, that you do not carry large amounts of cash with you or keep large amounts of cash in your home. In the event that your money becomes lost or stolen, you will be unable to have that money replaced. A bank account provides you with a safe place to store your money. It also provides you with easy access to your money, either with checks or a debit card.

The elimination of check chasing fees and the security of a bank account are just a few of the many benefits of banking. You may also find that having a bank account will improve your chances of being able to obtain a loan. If you are in need of a personal loan, automobile loan, student loan, or mortgage, you have a higher chance of being approved if you are already the customer a bank. This is because many banks are more likely to do business with their existing customers.

In addition to being approved for a loan with your bank, having a bank account can improve your chances of obtaining financing elsewhere. Before financing is granted, the lender in question will examine your ability to pay. If you have a savings account or a checking account, the balance of those accounts will be taken into consideration. The more money you have in your account, the more likely it is that you will be approved for financing.

Time Banking refers to a pattern of reciprocal service exchange which uses units of time as currencyeconomic system. A Time Bank, also known as a Service Exchange, is a community which practices time banking. The unit of currency, always valued at an hour’s worth of any person’s labor, used by these groups has various names, but is generally known as a Time Dollar in the U.S. and a Time Credit in the U.K. Time Banking is primarily used to provide incentives and rewards for work such as mentoring children, caring for the elderly, being neighborly–work usually done on a volunteer basis–which a pure market system devalues. Essentially, the "time" one spends providing these types of community services earns "time" that one can spend to receive services. ^{By 1990, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation had invested US $1.2 million to pilot Time Banking in the context of senior care. Today, 26 countries have active Time Banks. There are 93 Time Banks active in the U.K. and 53 officially recognized Time Banks in the U.S. and is an example of an alternative Communities therefore use time banking as a tool to forge stronger intra-community connections, a process known as "building social capital". Time Banking had its intellectual genesis in the U.S. in the early 1980’s.}

If you’re good with numbers and have great organizational skills, a career in mortgage banking may be a great idea. Most people who work in the mortgage banking field are residential or commercial loan officers.

A mortgage loan officer helps people get loans to buy houses or re-finance property they already own. A commercial loan officer may also handle mortgages, but for businesses and companies. Depending on the type of company the loan officer works for, hours can vary from a standard 40 hour week to more. Many mortgage banking professionals work on commission, so they may want to put in more hours, book more loans and earn more commission. Other mortgage loan officers work standard hours at a bank or credit union.

In the current job market, new mortgage banking professionals are usually required to have a college degree in finance or business, or some training or experience specific to the field. Computer training is essential to the job, as are an aptitude with numbers and good customer service skills.

There are many colleges offering business and finance degrees, and several schools offering both on site and internet courses in mortgage banking and lending.

Typically, loan officers employed by banks and credit unions do not need to be licensed. Mortgage brokerages and companies have licensing requirements determined by their state. Each state’s department of professional regulation can provide information about their licensing requirements.

Since mortgage loan officers are usually paid on commission, their pay can fluctuate with the number of loans that they write. Most earn between $33,000 and $63,000 per year, with the top earners earning about $90,000 and up.

Mortgage banking professionals will review credit scores, determine the type of loan that is best for the customer and guide them through the application and closing process. Detail oriented and very organized, the loan officer handles the many paperwork and reporting requirements needed to get the loans approved and to closing.

They are also required to have a strong working knowledge of federal mortgage regulations and the various types of mortgages available to the consumer. Detailed knowledge of the application and closing procedures is also necessary to assist the customer with this unfamiliar and often uncomfortable process.

Barclays online banking is one of the most popular ways to do banking on the internet nowadays. They offer both personal and business accounts to fit your needs, so they cater to just about anybody who needs online banking.

However, they are much more than just a bank. They also offer credit cards, investing management, money management, and are all around the globe, with locations in America, Europe, Asia and Africa as well.

Therefore, almost regardless of where you find yourself (with a few exceptions) you can do business with them. They currently have more than forty two million customers, have been around for over three hundred years, so if you are looking for a large company with plenty of experience to handle your online banking needs, this is your choice.

So what features do their online banking services offer? Quite simply, you can check your balance any time, and anywhere around the globe.

In fact, if you plan on doing any type of traveling in the near future, then online banking will be an important part of your arsenal, because you obviously won’t be able to do just drove down to your nearest branch and do your banking.

In many locations, there won’t be a Barclays branch near you, so this is very important for travelers.

You can pay off your credit card bills online, and if you plan on paying off the same companies more than once, just input their info and the online banking center will automatically remember them for next time, so you don’t have to worry about doing this more than once.

Paying your bills will become the easiest thing you do all month, and can literally be done in a minute or less with online banking. You’d be surprised at how much time this saves you over the course of a few months and a year, and particularly if you input the companies to have them paid each and every month on autopilot, you can really save a lot of time without too much effort at all.

Investment banks profit from companies and governments by raising money through issuing and selling securities in the capital markets (both equity and bond), as well as providing advice on transactions such as mergers and acquisitions. To perform these services in the US, an advisor must be a licensed broker-dealer, and is subject to SEC (FINRA) regulation. Until the late 1980s, the United States and Canada maintained a separation between investment banking and commercial banks.

A majority of investment banks offer strategic advisory services for mergers, acquisitions, divestiturederivatives, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodity, and equity securities. or other financial services for clients, such as the trading of

Trading securities for cash or securities (i.e., facilitating transactions, market-making), or the promotion of securities (i.e., underwriting, research, etc.) is referred to as the "sell side."

Dealing with the pension funds, mutual funds, hedge funds, and the investing public who consume the products and services of the sell-side in order to maximize their return on investment constitutes the "buy side". Many firms have buy and sell side components.

The last two major bulge bracket firms on Wall Street were Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley until both banks elected to convert to traditional banking institutions on the 22nd of September, 2008, as part of a response to the US financial crisis. ^{Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, and UBS AG are "universal banks" rather than bulge-bracket investment banks, since they also accept deposits (though not all of them have U.S. branches).}

Banking KPI’s include certain metrics that are quantifiable and specific. They can be categorized to six classifications, such as income metrics, cost metrics, company asset metrics, investment metrics, interest margin metrics, and risk metrics.

KPI’s or key performance indicators are metrics used to measure the progress of an organization towards the attainment of its goals. These metrics can be financial or non-financial in nature. Customer satisfaction has been a common metric used by businesses. This can also be metric used in the financial industry.

If many customers are satisfied by a business, it literally means good progress for the business. However, seeing and knowing your customers are satisfied with your product or service is not enough. It is also important for a business to have statistical or mathematical information with regards to customer satisfaction.

The progress of an organization can be determined not just on the data inscribed on financial statements. Management must also present measures that show the performance and progress of the organization.

The metrics, such as key performance indicators, are used more commonly to assess the performance of a company on different areas and activities. The metrics as mentioned above can be broken down to various measurements.

In the income metrics category, a company can measure the performance of its income through the following measurements: gross profit, non-interest incomes level, fee income level, and interest spread.

The gross profit is a common component in an income and expense statement of businesses. It is computed by deducting the cost of sales to sales.

The fee income level in the case of service-oriented businesses can be derived by dividing the operating income to the fee income. On the other hand, non-interest income divided by operating income results to non-interest income level.

Computing for the interest spread involves a complex equation. To derive the interest spread amount, the interest income is divided by interest earning sales. The result of the first equation is deducted to the ratio of interest expense and interest bearing liabilities.

In the past, people often rush to the bank for last minute deposits or withdrawals resulting in long lines at the teller’s booth. This was very inconvenient for most of us. Time and effort are invested in such a simple transaction. Frustrations were rampant because of cut-off times and immediate need of funds.

Many were already contented with this system. When online banking was introduced, many were glad to have this convenient process of banking. Internet banking was aimed at bringing banking to a more personal and comfortable experience. You can make transactions right at your very own home or through your Internet capable mobile phones. Internet banking has truly revolutionized the way banking is done today. Aside from the ease it offers, it also minimizes the downtimes and the frustrations in the banking industry. It even lessens the work of the bank personnel at the branch, therefore, allowing better service for their in-branch clients.

How is Internet banking done? Easy. You just go to the website of your bank and enroll your account for their online service. After which you have to set a username and password, as you would a normal email sign-up. You will then receive a confirmation of the activation of your account and presto, banking starts with a click. You are now ready to access your account details online

Accessing your accounts online will allow you to view your current balances, transfer funds, view and request statements, order checkbooks, and do a whole lot more of interactive banking. You can even pay your bills online or have it automatically debited from your account at a regular interval.

If you are worried of possible hackers hacking your account and transferring your money to their account, forget it. Internet banking transactions are done through a secure line where data is encrypted during the process. By encrypting the data, details of your bank account is converted into a set of codes that would not to seem to be anything understandable.

With the introduction of Internet banking to the public, it surely saves the effort of traditional banking. It even paves the way for more innovative banking practices that saves more than half the time it will take when transacting the traditional way. It also gives you the flexibility to manage your accounts even when you are miles away from home. One distinct advantage over traditional banking.

Switzerland is an economically advanced and prosperous nation, with a gross domestic product (GDP) higher than that of some larger western European nations. In addition, the value of the Swiss franc (CHF) has been relatively stable compared to that of other currencies. In 2003, the financial sector comprised an estimated 14% of Switzerland’s GDP and employed approximately 180,000 people (110,000 of whom work in the banking sector); this represents about 5.6% of the total Swiss workforce.

Swiss neutrality and national sovereignty, long recognized by foreign nations, have fostered a stable environment in which the banking sector was able to develop and thrive. Even though it is near Europe’s geographical centre, Switzerland maintained neutrality through both World Wars; is not a member of the European Union or the European Economic Area; and was not even a member of the United Nations until 2002.

Currently an estimated one-third of all funds held outside their country of origin (sometimes called "offshore" funds) are kept in Switzerland. In 2001 Swiss banks managed US$ 2.6 trillion. The following year it handled US$400 billion less which has been attributed to both a bear market and stricter regulations on Swiss banking.

The Bank of International Settlements, an organization that facilitates cooperation among the world’s central banks, is headquartered in the city of Basel. Founded in 1930, the BIS chose to locate in Switzerland because of the country’s neutrality, which was important to an organization founded by countries that had been on both sides of World War I.

Nearly everyone has access to some sort of account with which to conduct the regular business of banking. Access to a financial institution’s accounts and other services is often taken for granted. The advantages of banking can become clearer if you review some of the basics. This is even more relevant if you happen to be one of the few that have yet to open a checking or savings account with their local bank. You not only need to know what sort of obvious advantages a bank offers, such as the different features that are available to customers, but also how these relate to you particular needs. Everyone would agree that one of the basic reasons bank accounts exist is to provide a place to put one’s money to keep it safe. While images like stuffing your mattress with money may seem humorous to most of us, there have been times when people have done just that with the money they earned. In other situations, people might carry cash on their persons. The danger with either situation is that if money is stolen or lost, it cannot be replaced. Thus, using a banking service like an account is a good way to protect your assets. Equally important is the fact that most people who are employed receive paychecks that can be redeemed for cash at banks. Of course, banks have a common policy that requires them to charge a fee for the cashing of someone’s paycheck. This may not seem very important since the fees are generally very small. Yet, even a small fee can amount to something over time. The advantage to having a bank account with a local bank is that those fees will be waived if you keep an account with them. Those same banking institutions also provide features that provide convenient use of accounts whether you want to establish a checking account and use checks to pay bills rather than cash or if you wish to obtain a debit card that can be used in the place of money. Both of these options provide easy access to your funds without being on the premises, physically withdrawing the funds from your checking or savings account.