The financial services sector encompasses all of the economic activities related to money and assets. This includes depository institutions, providers of investment products, insurance companies and other credit and financing organizations. The industry is also comprised of a number of critical financial utilities such as accounting and tax filing firms, credit card processing networks and service centers, global payment systems (like Visa and Mastercard), credit rating agencies, debt resolution services, and securities brokerage firms.
Financial services are essential to every other industry. They lubricate the channels that channel money from savers to those with investment ideas, allow individuals and businesses to raise capital, and help with a wide range of other tasks such as managing risk.
Some of the most important developments in this industry were spurred by technological changes. For example, the internet has changed how people access their bank accounts and invest their money. It has also shifted the balance of power in the industry away from traditional banks and toward multi-service financial conglomerates that provide all types of financial products.
One of the biggest challenges facing the industry is cyber security. It’s a real issue that won’t go away and it’s something that most companies in this sector have to keep an eye on constantly. They have to invest in proactive monitoring, and BC/DR solutions for when attacks do happen and stay two steps ahead of the bad guys.