The Euro

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 354.

Banking Services

Modern banks offer many services to businesses as well as to individual customers. The service menu of banks does not remain unchanged as new services are constantly being introduced.

Here are some of the most widely used banking facilities:

A credit card enables the holder to buy goods and repay the credit card issuer at a later date.

A loan is an amount of money burrowed from the bank whieh mustbe repaid at a fixed rate of interest.

A mortgage is a loan to buy property.

An overdraftis a loan made by a bank to a customer so he/she may take out more money than isactually in a bank account.

As well as offering credit facilities, banks provide services to allow customers to make payments:

Direct debitis a system of paying bills, etc. by having money automatically transferred from a bank account.

A standing orderis an arrangement with a bank to pay a certain amount to another person or organization at regular intervals.

Most banks offer a foreign exchangeservice - the facility to change money from one currency to another.

In recent years banks have diversified,and now offer such services as insurance,investment advice, private pension plans, and home-banking (telephone, SMS and Internet) facilities.

The single European currency,the euro, was launched on 1 January 1999. Since that time the Ђ sign lias become as familiar as the $ or £.

A stablecurrency whose owners are as big in world trade as the European Union is attractive to a lot of international investors who want to be less dependent on the dollar.

A single currency has potential benefitsfor the economy of every European Union's country, in particular, as well as for all member states in general. Among the advantagesthe following can be pointed out:

♦ lower transaction cost:the euro makes commerce within the EU easier , by abolishingthe currency exchange mechanism. This, in turn, provides 1 for lower transaction cost.

* transparent price differencies: the single currency makes price differencies in different countries of the Euro zone more obvious.

♦ reduced costs: for customers, in particular, to travel to other countries; easier and less expensive transfer of fundsto other countries; secured purchasing powerowing to lower inflation; more sustainable economic growth, which will increase employment.