Opportunities in Transaction Banking?

I've been looking at opportunities within trade finance and transaction banking. I've noticed many banks like HSBC, Deutsche Bank, BNP etc for example often include transaction banking as part of their corporate and investment banking units.

Obviously this isn't Investment Banking, but would you say transaction banking is more in line with corporate banking since products in this space include letters of credit, receivables, etc? Where exactly does this fit in and why is it often in many foreign banks' investment banking divisions?

I've read a few interesting articles about this space in recent times and it seems like a solid, growing field that has generated much revenue for many firms. What are your thoughts?

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Best Response

Have never worked in this area directly but was exposed to it while working on a project.

Generally, Transaction Banking teams are part of the larger corporate banking franchise at places like Deutsche Bank, BNP, Mitsubishi UFJ, etc...they exist to provide things like trade finance through different products that you mentioned for export-oriented clients like BMW, Siemens, Sony, Samsung etc...

Due to the nature of the services/products offered by these businesses, they generally do not generate huge revenues compared to other divisions in a financial services firm, which is why you rarely see these businesses in US investment banks but more in universal banks like HSBC or Deutsche, BNP. In particular, banks like Deutsche, Mitsubishi, etc...that have a very captive domestic client base like a BMW or a Sony will have transaction banking Overall things are generally more stable and culturally a bit conservative/slower paced.

 

Do you think this may be an opportunity worth considering?

Also, it does seem like some banks in the US have these capabilities. For example, Citi's Global Transaction Services program is quite similar.

 

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