What is Retail Banking?

Retail banking is the only type of banking that occurs between you and your own bank. Retail banking includes all of the banking services you receive from your bank, such as personal accounts, savings accounts, loans, and even online banking.

Investment Banker

Retail banking training is banking that is intended for the bank’s everyday customers, such as the general public, as opposed to huge or international institutions. Even while using online banking, you maintain some sort of connection with your bank, making it a form of retail banking.

By providing services like debit and credit cards, online withdrawals and deposits, and many other advantages, retail banking enables you to satisfy your daily demands.

How does retail banking work?

Retail banks exist for the general public to help them save and invest their money and manage their regular needs by offering various services such as bank accounts, credit cards, debit cards, time deposits, loans, and many more.

You can also use several services such as withdrawals and deposits online and at the nearest bank branch. Online retail banking has made money transfers and retail transactions more manageable for consumers.

Some retail banks may offer all the services you’d expect, so it’s a good idea to check with a bank branch or visit a bank’s website to use a particular retail bank’s services.

Will retail banks become extinct? What we know

Will retail banks become extinct? What we know

Customer banking habits vary significantly from one country to another. However, the pandemic has made some of these habits a global trend. The new age technologies and startup culture are challenging the existence of retail banking in the world.

Today, many application-based solutions are available in the market that enables you to transact and do more with your money at a click, without the need to visit the nearest bank retail outlet. Global researchers say that it’s not far that retail banks will become extinct. However, one thing that could save them for a while is adopting new-age technologies.

Unlike earlier, wherein doing business with international bank establishments was a glamour statement, today, it does not hold that value; instead, it is the digital experience of convenience, speed, efficiency, and interface.

Digital technology is a hygiene thing today and requires heavy investments by banks to make the most of the customers’ loyalty. It is just like a mobile service. You port to another mobile service provider if you do not get good network coverage. A similar trend is in the making in the banking space.

With a large portion of the population highly tech-savvy today, they need a robust digital banking platform that enables them to make their transactions – deposits, withdrawals, investments, and payments – on the move. Therefore, this leaves lesser chances of failure for banks than win clicks. The banks require a workforce that is engaged, technologically sound, and in sync with the changing times in the banking space. Moreover, the ones who can be integrated easily without much training are ready to take on challenges and upskill their capabilities as they move further.

 Imarticus Learnings’ Postgraduate Program in Banking and Finance prepares you for the changing banking trends and provides a platform to upskill and align with the needs of the industry. The course curriculum is designed to keep the ever-changing customer behaviour in the retail banking space in mind. Our faculty, with more than two decades of experience in retail banking help, provide an interactive learning environment led by case studies, industry interactions, and tech-back sessions. The module offers all-rounded learning and the ability of the aspirants to start contributing to the workplace they join from the very first day.

The retail banking courses training allows you to leverage Imarticus Learnings’ 400+ partnerships with top-tier hiring firms in the banking space. Our placement partners include Motilal Oswal, Standard Chartered, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Edelweiss, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

How to join Postgraduate Program in Banking and Finance?

Imarticus Learnings’ Postgraduate Program in Banking and Finance is a tailor-made program for those who want to make a career in retail banking or financial services. The program requires the aspirant to take an admission test and, post the relevant results, can enrol in the program.

What does the Program offer?

The program offers 300+ hours of in-depth skill enhancement training in the latest industry practices. It is a placement-focused certificate program with a professional certificate in banking and finance. The aspirant also gets certified in Mutual Funds by the National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM). This NISM Series V A – Mutual Fund Distribution certificate allows you to build expertise in Mutual Funds.

 

 

What is the Learning Module?

The learning module involves real-world use cases, business scenarios, practical assignments, industry interactions, and tech back sessions to gauge aspirants’ progress and prepare them to be the contributing lot from day one at the workplace.

To Know More, click on Postgraduate Program in Banking and Finance (imarticus.org)

Imarticus Learnings has a strong presence across India and UAE. Contact us through our live chat support or leave a Hi! on WhatsApp, and our representatives will get in touch with you. You can also visit our training centres in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Chennai, Cochin, Kolkata, Thane, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Gurugram, Noida, Patna, Lucknow, and Dehradun.

Technology Buzzwords: Buzzword Watch

Technology Buzzwords: Buzzword Watch

There are many buzzwords out there from leading analysts – Gartner Hype Cycle is very popular. IDC, Forrester, Frost & Sullivan etc. make similar predictions. Similarly, CompTIA.org is an IT Industry trade body.
This is an informal look at interesting concepts that may be worth paying attention to in the year ahead.

 

Buzzwords:

Cryptocurrency: A digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.

Device Mesh: The device mesh refers to an expanding set of endpoints people use to access applications and information or interact with people, social communities, governments and businesses.

Containers: Open platforms to build, ship, componentize, & run distributed applications & move them across platforms and clouds with greater independence (e.g. Docker).

Quantified Self: A movement to incorporate technology into data acquisition on aspects of a person’s daily life in terms of inputs (e.g. food consumed), states (e.g. mood), and performance (mental and physical).

Haptics: Haptics is the science of applying touch (tactile) sensation and control to interaction with computer applications.

Per Gaze: A Google-Glass patent for an ad system that allows real-world ads to be translated into digital behaviors.

Internet Of Things: A proposed development of the Internet in which everyday objects have network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data.

Sensorization: Sensorization is a buzzword to define the extent or the trend of embedding as many sensors as possible within a device or appliance.

Gamification: Applying game mechanics and game design techniques to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals.

Software-defined Networking: An approach to computer networking that allows network administrators to manage network services through abstraction of higher-level functionality.

Mobile Wallets: Mobile wallets use near-field communication (NFC) chips inside mobile smart phones and tablets to transmit payment information.

Machine Learning: Type of artificial intelligence (AI) that provides computers with the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed.

Wearable Technology: Category of technology devices that can be worn by a consumer and often include tracking information related to health and fitness.

Location-based Authentication: Goes beyond user-id, password & biometrics to prove an individual’s identity and authenticity based on location. Pre-authorizations, reduce CNP fraud.

Data Stewardship: Management and oversight of an organization’s data assets to help provide business users with high-quality data that is easily accessible in a consistent manner.

Flexible Display: A flexible display is an electronic visual display which is flexible in nature; differentiable from the more prevalent traditional flat screen displays used in most electronics devices.

Screenless Displays: Part of an emerging technology in the field of displays that are likely to be a game changer and would change the way displays are used. e.g. holograms (like Star wars), LCD panels, cockpit windows

Augmented Reality: A technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real world, thus providing a composite view. Augmented reality adds graphics, sounds, haptic feedback and smell to the natural world as it exists. Best example – Pokemon Go.

These are buzzwords that you will be seeing used in major Retail Banks across the world. Retail Banks have really developed over time as a dynamic workspace. Learn all about how Retail Banks function in our retail banking and wealth Management course.


Written by Alex Harrison.

Introduction to Capital Market

What Are Capital Markets?

Capital markets basically deal with stocks and bonds in general. In simple words, any firm is it private or government, is always in need of funds, so as to finance its various operations to achieve certain long-term goals. Thus every firm is supposed to acquire these very funds or capital; for which, it sells stocks and bonds. These stocks and bonds are basically like shares, all of which are in the companies name. For instance, when the government of any country, issues what are known as treasury bonds, it basically is tapping into the capital markets, thereby generating capital.
This process is basically known as the IPO or Initial Public Offering. Capital Markets are largely divided into two types, the primary markets, and secondary markets. The companies and governments sell their securities in the primary market, whereas the investors trade with these securities in what is known as the secondary markets. Thus, it is safe to say that the capital markets are an important area of the finance industry.

These markets are more like the foundations on the basis of which, various companies and governments are able to invest in businesses, generate employment as well as better infrastructure. One of the core responsibilities of any capital market includes getting the people who are looking to invest, in contact with those looking for capital. Put so simply, this sounds like a very easy task to do, but in reality, a lot of professionals, perform this high-pressure task, to get the desired results.
The private companies look to raise capitals for various reasons, other than just expanding their businesses. They could be looking to finance start-up business ventures, or to battle with the sudden decline in the turnover, or for buying out the competition. While it may seem like it is only those very companies, which are profited from this whole business, it is not so. The very reason someone would want to provide capital is that that person would be looking to gain profit from their financing efforts.
A lot of people know of capital markets as stock exchanges. These are places where anyone can invest and are more commonly known as the public markets. This is where the Initial Public Offering takes place, which is the first time when any firm, comes out into the public to sell their securities. The next step where securities are bought and sold by investors is known as secondary markets, as spoken about earlier.
These secondary markets take place, subsequently after the primary market proceedings are over. Just as there are public markets, there also exist the lesser-known private markets, which are also known as exempt markets. These can be called as more lenient as compared to the public markets, primarily because there are no regulations to be met. Also, this is seen as a more cost-effective way for companies to fund their financing needs.
Thus the arena of capital markets has come to garner more attention by a lot of people, which is why candidates look for programs, which can make them proficient in the inner workings of capital markets. Imarticus Learning one of the best education institute in India offers industry-endorsed courses in capital markets, finance, and investment banking.

Banking Domain Primer

By Zenobia Sethna
The Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector is the backbone of the Indian economy employing approximately 4.5 million professionals. If you are looking for a career in Finance, you will see vacancies listing “Banking Domain Knowledge” as a requisite. But what does it mean? Banking itself can be of multiple types based on products and services on offer and the type of customers serviced.
For simplicity, one may define banking domain knowledge as the body of knowledge dealing with how different banking segments operate – across customers, sales & distribution, products & services, people, process and technology. This definition basically covers the end to end functioning of any bank.
Investment Banking Course
Let’s take a closer look at the operating model of a bank.
Banking Segments – Broadly we have four types of banks: retail banks, corporate banks, investment banks and private banks. These are known as Banking segments.
Clients – These are the customers who buy the bank’s products or services. These may be individuals looking to open a bank account or Institutions or other Banks looking for more corporate solutions or ways to invest their funds.
Sales and Distribution Channels – This includes how the bank reaches out to its customers to make sales. This could be through emails, phone calls, on the Internet, TV ads etc.
Products and Services – Products and services are the things the bank sells to customers for a fee. These would vary according to the banking segment. In retail banks, we would have products like deposit accounts and loans.
People, process and technology – Finally we have the three components that underpin all of the above. These are people, processes and technology. People includes job roles and responsibilities, organization structures; processes define how customer transactions are fulfilled and what procedures to follow, while technology defines the IT infrastructure and systems that support the business.
Imarticus Learning offers many courses on Investment Banking and Retail Banking covering the multi-faceted functioning of these banks and their products and services. Contact us to know more.


A Beginners’ Guide Investing in The Stock Market

There is no better way to learn than by doing. So we at Imarticus Learning believe that the best way to prepare for an interview for Corporate Finance jobs is to actively invest in the market in whichever way possible thereby putting some ‘skin in the game’, which ensures you know what’s going on. While FMVC and our Diploma in Corporate finance focus on Interview Prep using mock interviews and providing sample questions, we always encourage our students to actively participate in the stock market by opening Phantom Accounts.
Before you begin actively investing, you need to answer a few questions :

1. What are you doing this for? If you are doing it for the course, we advise you to open a phantom account, which essentially means you do everything but invest real money. Regardless of if you open a phantom account or the real thing, the following steps will help.
2. What kind of investor are you? Are you a risk taker, risk-averse, or a little bit of both? This is what we call investor profiling and we delve into this a great deal in our Retail Banking and Wealth Management Diploma, one of India’s leading programs/courses in Retail Banking and Wealth Management. Being a risk taker is simple. It requires a strong stomach and a healthy attitude to losing some money because the equity market is volatile. While you will be making decisions based on sound analysis, sometimes things go wrong and you could lose all your capital, hard earned money you have been saving for a long time. How do you feel about that? If you shudder at the thought and think you will lose a lot of sleep then you are probably risk averse. Once you realize this, you can then invest your portfolio keeping that in mind and put aside a small amount for risky ventures that offer spectacular returns and perhaps put the rest in conservative investments with lower returns.
3. How much time do you have? Picking stocks is hard work and there’s a reason why Mutual fund managers get paid so much to do it. So if you don’t have the time, we suggest starting out with an index fund like Franklin India Index or HDFC Index Fund – Sensex. An index fund is a mutual fund that invests in a predefined stocks of an index in a percentage allocation that resembles the index. Your portfolio could be a mix of different index funds, NSE Small caps, BSE Sensex and maybe even an international index fund.
4. I want to invest individually. We suggest creating your own index fund and take control of the percentage allocation thereby doing some work of your own while having the Sensex as a guide. If you plan to move away from the index, then create a portfolio of 12-20 well-chosen stocks that are extremely well covered and have excellent investor relations.
Here are some broad rules
a. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket or one sector
b. Understand the concept of defensive stocks and cyclicality
c. Don’t completely trust your broker but aim to create a good relationship
d. If you plan to invest using an online platform- the preferred method, then remember to read, research and plan meticulously and keep a record and mark to market regularly
Our next blog post will focus on the technicalities of opening your first account as well understanding various stock market terminology.