There are many different corporate banking careers, but everyone employed to work in corporate banking primarily deals with large commercial customers of the bank. Commercial clients have similar needs to consumer clients, such as lending and transactional needs, but commercial clients also require additional services, such as treasury management and payroll services. Major banks hire individuals with the specialist knowledge needed to deal with each aspect of corporate banking, and corporate banking careers range from sales people to underwriters.
Among the highest paying corporate banking careers are commercial lenders, who receive a base salary as well as a production based commission. Commercial lenders have to act as sales people and attempt to lure new clients to the bank. Having agreed to establish a lending relationship with a particular client, a commercial lender also has to determine the terms of a loan. Experienced lenders can approve their own loans, but need to have strong credit management skills so that loans are both profitable to the bank and competitively priced in order to attract clients.
There are many corporate banking careers in treasury management, including sales representatives and risk analysts. Sales representatives put together packages of products designed to meet the needs of a particular company. Commercial clients pay a flat fee for the service package, rather than per service fees. Typically, treasury packages are composed of deposit accounts, payroll processing, and payment processing. Risk analysts work with treasury sales representatives and ensure that new clients are financially strong enough to meet underwriting standards for products, such as payment processing, that require credit approval.
Behind the scenes corporate banking careers include product development specialists who create new deposit products and lending options, and operation specialists who perform regular audits of the corporate division of the bank. Operation specialists are typically seasoned bankers with knowledge of the bank's operating procedures as well as the industry as a whole. The operation specialist normally reports directly to the city president and has a crucial role to play in making sure bank employees do not violate state or federal laws.
Employees trying to forge corporate banking careers normally have a background in retail banking, which involves dealing with consumer clients as well as small business customers. Successful lenders are often head-hunted by corporate banking units and fast tracked into commercial lending roles. Most major banks require people involved in treasury management to have a degree in finance or accounting due to the complex nature of these roles. Many banks have a city or regional president who presides over the corporate banking division for the local area, and city presidents are normally individuals who have had experience in several different roles at the bank.