The wholesale banking sector is weathering the storm and providing a major “bright spot” in the banking industry even as consumer banking continues to falter, according to TowerGroup, a financial services research and advisory services firm.
The economic crisis that has struck the US consumer financial services industry and devastated banking institutions and channels around the world has not had as great an impact on wholesale banking.
TowerGroup reports that transaction services businesses of global banks averaged 22% annual revenue growth in 2008 and wholesale banking overall revenue growth of 11%. Though growth rates have begun to slow in 2009, these businesses continue to generate a significant portion of the profitability of commercial banks globally.
“Bank executives must determine how to guide their institutions through the deteriorating economic circumstances of this recession while also focusing on how to build their businesses for the new financial landscape that will follow,” says Theodore Iacobuzio, research executive for Payments and Wholesale Banking, TowerGroup. “The reliability of the wholesale banking sector provides a critical business engine for stable revenue growth, an engine that will help drive institutions in the post-recessionary era, creating even greater business opportunities in the years to come.”
Recognizing these trends, TowerGroup strengthened its team of banking sector specialists, which has over 70 years of experience combined and unrivaled expertise in the wholesale banking arena.
TowerGroup analysts cover topics such as global transaction services, commercial credit cards, small business banking and commercial lending, offering ongoing research and expertise that can provide clients the industry insight and custom research they need to thrive. Team members include:
Susan Feinberg, senior research director in TowerGroup’s Wholesale Banking research service, also covers the area of global transaction services. She brings over 25 years of wholesale banking experience to guide her clients through areas such as treasury and cash management, Internet delivery of corporate banking services, trade and supply chain finance, and corporate electronic payments.
Most recently, Susan has taken an in-depth look at how the successful business for cash management services can be leveraged to automate the currently inefficient and overly complex health care processing and billing system. She found that in fact banks are uniquely positioned to play the role of intermediary, not only for the traditional aspects of payments processing but also for the full range of activities taking place among the providers of health care.
Patricia Hines is a research director specializing in small business banking and commercial lending for TowerGroup’s Wholesale Banking practice. Patricia’s expertise, developed over 20 years of experience, is in the areas of small business cash management, delivery channels, customer relationship management, and commercial and small business lending.
Steven Murphy is a research director covering commercial payments with an initial focus on commercial cards in the Wholesale Banking research and advisory service of TowerGroup’s Payments practice. As the newest member to the TowerGroup team, Steven brings over 20 years of experience covering consumer, Internet, and corporate banking. In recent research notes, Steven has examined the growth and expansion of transaction services across regions, focusing on best practices for creating a global commercial card program and determining the next wave of innovation in this space.
L.D.