Financial services is a broad sector that touches everyone in big and small ways, from hedge fund managers to community banks. It includes everything from managing money to making investments and helping people plan for the future.
The International Monetary Fund defines financial services as “processes by which consumers or businesses acquire goods whose value is not fully realized in the physical sense.” This includes transactions such as credit and debit card payments, cash, cheques and electronic funds transfers.
In most countries, the wider financial services sector is made up of three overlapping parts: financial enterprises (such as banks), the financial markets and their participants, and the payment system.
These three parts interact in a way that enables funds for investment or consumption to be made available from savings in other parts of the economy.
As a result, the financial services sector is an important economic factor in most countries.
A strong financial services sector can help a country’s economy grow and attract more investment. However, a weak one can drag an economy down.
Some of the key jobs in the financial services industry include banking, risk management, capital markets, mutual funds, insurance and venture capital. Other roles include analysts and economists who work on behalf of financial companies to ensure that they’re operating efficiently.
The industry is highly dependent on computer systems, and it’s also highly affected by trends in technology. Banks, for example, have enormous datasets to wrangle — not just transactional data from customers, but engagement with banking apps, calls to service centers and visits to branches as well.
If a bank can organize its data properly, it can understand its customers, predict their needs, personalize interactions and more. This means that they can prepare a product or offer that’s relevant to each customer at the right time.
For example, if a person is considering purchasing a house, the bank can see that they’re likely to do so within a certain period of time and prepare a loan that will help them achieve their goal.
Similarly, the same data could allow a financial services company to forecast when someone might be ready to trade up in their car or upgrade their furniture. This could lead to an increase in demand and sales for the product.
It could also be used to predict when a person might have a life event such as marriage or moving out of state and provide a product that will best fit the new circumstances.
These types of processes can be automated to make them faster and more efficient. This can free up more resources for employees to focus on the most pressing matters that they need to solve.
In addition, the integration of BPM tools can ensure that financial services are able to improve their processes as they go along. This would help them avoid potential delays and other issues that could harm their customer’s experience.
Financial services can be a great career choice for those who have an interest in working with other people and solving complex problems. It also provides a wealth of transferable skills that can be applied in many different areas and industries.
