Careers in Banking Overview: The concept behind banking is deceptively simple. Take in deposits from people or businesses with excess funds. Lend the money to people who need funds. Pay the depositors less interest than what you charge the borrowers. Turn a profit on the "spread" between the rates on deposits and the rates on loans.
Of course, banking actually is somewhat more complicated in practice. Some of the more important banking jobs belong to loan officers, who review applications for loans and decide whether to grant them and, if so, on what terms. Large banks also devote considerable resources to credit analysis, developing models and scoring systems to assess the risk that a particular borrower may default (that is, fail to pay back the loan). Thus, people with strong quantitative backgrounds are normally in demand at major banks. For people with an orientation towards sales and client service, larger banks also have relationship managers who serve the needs of the most important clients.
Commercial banking focuses on business clients, as both borrowers and depositors. Savings banks, by contrast, focus almost exclusively on a clientele composed of individuals, not businesses. As time has gone on, though, the distinctions have blurred somewhat. Major commercial banks typically also have significant consumer (also known as retail) banking operations. The converse does not usually hold, however: savings banks tend to confine themselves to serving individuals.
In general, commercial banks, due to their larger size, tend to offer more career opportunities, especially for entry-level employees.
