Banking correspondent is known to those companies that act in an authorized manner on behalf of a banking entity and perform very different banking operations for it, usually of a simple nature or of low cost to the bank.
Over the years, commercial banks have seen in the use of bank correspondents a good way to extend their work areas and access to a greater number of customers, who seek to facilitate their relationship with the entity and the Improvement of your services .
Although normally a bank correspondent has the ability to act more or less autonomously, always and at all times the final responsibility for its activity passes through the banking entity for which it works. In this way a large number of businesses enjoy correspondent status and develop activities for the bank.
Together with the development of digital or online banking , the emergence of this banking concept responds to the need for commercial banks to be able to reach and provide services to a greater number of geographical areas , including difficult to access or small population centers for the opening of a current branch.
Another existing modality in the banking market is that of the individual banking correspondent , that is, a person chosen and formed by the bank itself that works autonomously but supervised by it at all times that performs these tasks independently on behalf of the bank.
Activities to be carried out by the bank correspondent
- Collection of bills for energy supply services, telephony, subscriptions to television or Internet services …
- Collection of loaninstallments , personal loans and other banking products
- ATM service for the withdrawal and / or entry of cash
- Bank transfers and check cashing
- Other daily banking services, such as the maintenance of bank cards or inquiries of the products offered by the entity to which they adhere
Advantages offered by the bank correspondent system
Mainly the most positive thing about the use of correspondents is the extension of the commercial network of the banking entities and the easiest access for the population of their services , since they do not necessarily have to attend a branch for the management of all their activity.
From the point of view of the correspondents, developing these new activities in their businesses allows them to expand their line of work and achieve new levels of profit, in addition to attracting new customers.
Bank correspondent examples
A clear example is the agreement between a bank and a supermarket chain to offer customers the possibility of withdrawing cash from their accounts in the same supermarkets taking advantage of the payment of their purchases. That is to say, it is possible to pay a purchase of 10 euros with a card paying 50 and get the cash difference at the cash desk.
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