Ancillary Services provided by a Bank

All the services provided by banks can be broadly divided into two categories. The first one is primary services which consist of accepting demand deposits and lending money to its customers as per their requirement. Apart from their daily primary activities, banks provide many other supporting services; these are called ancillary services. Let us look at a few important services of them.

It means a transfer of funds from one branch of a bank to another branch of the same bank or a different bank.

One can make local remittances through Bankers Cheque (BC) and remit funds from one centre to another through Demand drafts (DD), Telegraphic Transfer (TT), Mail Transfer (MT), National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) and Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) at specified service charges. The customer shall fill in full particulars regarding the remittance; such as

• Nature of the remittance i.e. by filling in DD/TT/MT etc.
• Name and address of the beneficiary.
• Name of the branch to which the remittance is to be made.
• Name, address, an account number of the remitter/customer if required.

• This facility is popularly known as Safe Deposit Locker.
• It is extended to the customers to enable them to keep their valuables/important documents in a specially designed locker. A prescribed rental is charged on them.
• Lockers can be hired by individuals (not minors), firms, limited companies, specified associations and societies.
• Lockers can be rented for a minimum period of one year.
• There are four different types of lockers i.e. small, medium, large and extra large with varying rentals.
• Nomination facility is available to an individual hirer.
• In a case of overdue rents bank can charge a penalty.

• When a person travels to different countries or wants to buy any foreign merchandises, then they require foreign currencies.
• Bank provide these currencies to its customers.
• All transactions are done over the counter and only authorised bank branches can perform these functions.
• When a person earns or receives foreign currencies from abroad, he can also send them to banks.
• These foreign exchange transactions are done according to the rules and regulations of the central banks of respective countries.
• In India, all the transactions are subjected to the regulations of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999.

Primarily the card services were introduced for convenience and safety purposes but nowadays it has become the most popular payment mode among people. The bank issues customers two basic types of cards those are credit cards and debit cards. With the help of a credit card, the card holder can obtain either goods or services from merchant establishment where such arrangement exists. Then a bill is sent to the cardholder indicating the dues that he/she has to pay within a period of 30-40 days. It carries a fixed interest. Debit cards are same as credit cards. The only difference is that a number of dues for each transaction is debited to card holder’s account as each transaction is notified.

Nowadays it is the most popular method of doing banking operation where you don’t need to be physically present in the bank branch for performing any function/operation. It is also known as online banking or internet banking. One can do a number of activities by just sitting in front of one’s computer screen or smart phone. Such as; Transfer of funds from one account to another in the same bank or different banks, Keep surplus funds in a fixed deposit account, Online shopping etc. The only thing he/she needs to do is to access his/her virtual account with the help of the ID and PASSWORD, provided by the bank.

• Banks deliver a wide range of insurance of insurance products that covers the risk of almost every aspect of a human life, such as- Life, Health, Valuable assets like Personal vehicles, Debit and credit cards etc.
• It is also known as Bancassurance in which a bank and an insurance company form a partnership.
• The insurance company sales its different products to the bank's client base.
• This partnership is profitable for both companies. Banks can earn additional revenue by selling the products and the insurance company can expand its customer base.
• Example- ICICI Prudential, Bajaj Allianz etc.
• Some banks also offer Investment services for their corporate customers. It is also known as Portfolio services. They guide their clients especially about how to invest adequately or raise financial capital for their business. Any individual customer can also avail this kind of services from their respective bank.