Wholesale banking is the provision of services by banks to organizations, such as mortgage brokers, large corporate clients, mid-sized companies, real estate developers and investors, international trade finance businesses, institutional customers (such as pension funds and government entities/agencies), and services offered to other banks or other financial institutions.
Wholesale banks mainly engage in: - Finance wholesaling
- Underwriting
- Market making
- Consultancy
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Fund management
Retail banking is also known as Consumer Banking is the provision of services by a bank to individual consumers.
The term is generally used to distinguish these banking services from investment banking, commercial banking or wholesale banking.
It may also be used to refer to a division or department of a bank dealing with retail customers.
Typical products offered by a retail bank include: - Transactional accounts
- Current accounts, Savings accounts
- Debit cards, ATM cards, Credit cards
- Traveler's cheque
- Mortgages, personal loans
- Home equity loans
- Certificates of deposit/Term deposits
