Important Vocabulary

• Overdraft: An arrangement by which a customer can withdraw more from a bank account than has been deposited in it, up to an agreed limit; interest on the debt is calculated daily
• Credit card: A card that guarantees payment for goods and services purchased by the cardholder, who pays back the bank or finance company at a later date
• Cash dispenser or ATM: A computerized machine that allows bank customers to withdraw money, check their balance, and so on
• Loan: A fixed sum of money on which interest is paid, lent for a fixed period, and usually for a specific purpose
• Standing order or direct debit: An instruction to a bank to pay fixed sums of money to certain people or organizations at stated times
• Mortgage: A loan, usually to buy property, which serves as a security for the loan
• Cash card: A plastic card issued to bank customers for use in cash dispensers
• Home banking: Doing banking transactions by telephone or from one’s own personal computer
• Current account or checking account: One that generally pays little or no interest, but allows the holder to withdraw his/her cash without any restrictions
• Deposit account or time or notice account: One that pays interest, but usually cannot be used for paying cheques or checks, and on which notice is often required to withdraw the money
• Deposit: To place money in a bank; or money placed in a bank
• Foreign currency: The money used in countries other than one’s own
• Yield: How much money a loan pays, expressed as a percentage
• Liquidity: Available cash, and how easily other assets can be turned into cash
• Maturity: The date when a loan becomes repayable
• Underwrite: To guarantee to buy off all new shares that a company issues, if they cannot be sold to the public
• Takeover: When a company buys or acquires another one
• Merger: When a company combines with another one
• Stockbroking: Buying and selling stocks or shares for clients
• Portfolio management: Taking care of all a client’s investments
• Deregulation: The ending or relaxing of legal restrictions
• Conglomerate: A group of companies, operating in different fields, that have joined together
• Blue-chip: A company considered to be without risk
• Solvency: Ability to pay liabilities when they become due
• Collateral: Anything that acts as a security or guarantee for a loan

Matching up the Verbs and Nouns to Make Common Allocations

• charge – interest
• do – business
• exchange – currencies
• issue – bonds
• make – profits
• offer – advice
• pay – loans
• raise – funds
• receive – deposits
• underwrite – security issues

Extracted From

MacKenzie, I. (2002). English for Business Studies: A course for Business Studies and Economics students (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.