FT Guide to Banking

4

Transferring money and other retail bank services

By way of introduction and to demonstrate the importance of the services discussed in the first part of this chapter I ask you to consider the devastation wrought by a virtual closing down of the payments system in Cyprus in 2013 – see Article 4.1. Clearly, we are very dependent on the efficient and continuous running of the mechanisms behind the transfer of money.

After describing payments systems the chapter moves on to the amazing range of other services banks now offer to retail (and big business) customers. They have the high street presence, the technological infrastructure, expertise and (notwithstanding the troubles in investment banking) the trust of customers to offer much more ...