
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.