PPB November 2019

by Audrey Sellers F i nanc i a l Se r v i ces “B anks are dinosaurs,” Bill Gates famously stated in 1994. Fast forward 25 years and banks are hardly extinct. Since his prediction, bank operating revenue has tripled, earnings have quadrupled and equity has quintupled, according to the FDIC. U.S. financial markets are the largest and most liquid in the world. The sector supports the world’s largest economy with the greatest diversity in banking institutions and concentration of private credit anywhere on the planet. In 2018, finance and insurance represented 7.4 percent (or $1.5 trillion) of U.S. gross domestic product. Bank On It Promotional products pay off in the financial services industry by reinforcing the personal touch that people crave in an impersonal world. GROW 56 | NOVEMBER 2019 |