UNIVERSITY OF BENIN

FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF BANKING AND FINANCE

NAME: AIYEDE FRANCISCA ENEYEUFUO

MATRIC NUMBER: MGS1907909
COURSE CODE: BFN 317
COURSE TITLE: PRACTICE OF BANKING
LEVEL: 300LVL

QUESTION: A TERM PAPER ON BANK

MANDATES, BANKING TRANSACTIONS,
PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICAL STANDARDS.

DATE: 21ST FEBRUARY, 2023.

 BANK MANDATES
What is a Bank Mandate?
A bank mandate, or account signatory, is a person in your business who is
authorised to manage your bank account. A bank mandate or account mandate
informs the bank who can take financial actions on behalf of the company. This
is the document that the account holder(s) must complete to add or remove
signatories on a business bank account.
Bank Mandate means the written instructions given to the Bank by the
Customer for the appointment of the Bank as the Customer’s banker in the
format that the Bank might choose from time to time. Most banks offer a broad
range of options dependent on whether you are a business or commercial
banking customer. Account signatories can:
1. View all balances and transactions
2. Set up payments
3. Sign up for new financial products and services
4. Add or remove other bank mandates
Note: All account signatories are officially named as individuals on your
business bank account. You can’t list companies on your bank mandate.
How to change my bank mandate?
Most banks require you to call your relationship manager or to ring up their
customer services. You can’t add or remove people from your bank mandate
through regular online banking. Any changes on your mandate may take a few
weeks to take effect.
Can I add users without making them a signatory?
You can add users to your account without making changes to your bank
mandate, provided you are a commercial banking customer (i.e. Natwest
Bankline or Barclays.Net). As a regular business banking customer you can

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only add more people to your bank account by making them an account
signatory. 
Advantages of a bank mandate
Once a bank mandate has been ratified, you will be given your own login
and key fob with which to access your bank accounts, removing the need to
share banking logins among your finance team.
Most banks also offer a number of different access types. You might be
given permission to set up payments, for example, but not to authorise
payments, or you may only be given permission to view the bank account in
question. These permissions can be tailored to your needs, making a bank
mandate a flexible option, i.e. Barclays offer dual authorisation upon mandate
change.
If you're an accountant, steer clear of becoming a bank signatory. As you
scale your accounting business and deal with more and more clients, things can
quickly become complicated. You might, for example, have two clients who use
the same bank, so you now have two different logins and key fobs to keep track
of. It’s easy to imagine a scenario in which you enter the wrong details too
many times and end up locking a client’s account.
Realistically, your clients will use a number of different banks, each with
their own payment flows and permissions. Additionally, there is no universal
standard for payment files, as each bank accepts a slightly different format. All
of this adds up to extra training for your staff, and an even greater risk of
making a costly mistake. 
Disadvantages of having too many bank signatories on your bank
mandate
Having people on your bank mandate is a big commitment to the person
being the account signatory. They can act on your business’ behalf toward the

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bank. It makes sense to only add people to your bank mandate who you fully
trust to handle your finances. A few other things to consider:
1. Setting up a bank mandate can also involve a lot of paperwork, as well as
an average wait time of a few weeks. 
2. Best not to add any external consultants to your bank mandate, i.e.
accountants or legal advisor
3. Keep in mind that the bank mandate can only include private individuals
and not companies
4. There are options to add users without adding them to your bank
mandate.
How to best handle multiple banking users
You either sign up to become a corporate customer or you take advantage of
modern commercial payments systems such as Telleroo. Using a Corporate
Banking System can be clunky. Instead, we have designed a clean user interface
allowing you to to add or remove users easily, whilst maintaining security. With
Telleroo you can add as many users as you’d like including various access
levels:
1. Read only access
2. Submit payments only
3. Authorise payments
4. Admin access
BANKING TRANSACTIONS
A bank transaction is any money that moves in or out of your bank
account. Types of bank transactions include cash withdrawals or deposits,
checks, online payments, debit card charges, wire transfers and loan payments.
Transaction banking plays a role in optimising working capital in
commercial activity by equipping companies with investment options.

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 Transaction banking helps clients to manage their cash inflows and outflows
in an effective way, and provides them with short-term cash management
options.
The three main types of bank transactions are:
1. Withdrawal - taking out money or other capital form bank accounts, saving
accounts.
2. Deposit - account held at a bank or other financial institution as a guarantee.
3. Transfer - conveying or removing money from one account to another.
PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICAL STANDARDS
PROFESSIONALISM
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines professionalism as "the conduct,
aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional
person"; and it defines a profession as "a calling requiring specialized
knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation." 
The full definition of “professionalism” is the conduct, aims or qualities that
characterize or mark a profession or professional person.
Professional ethics are principles that govern the behaviour of a person or
group in a business environment. Like values, professional ethics provide rules
on how a person should act towards other people and institutions in such an
environment.
Ethical Standards
Ethical standards are a set of principles established by the founders of the
organization to communicate its underlying moral values. It refer to the
principles that promote trust, good behavior, fairness and governing the conduct
of a person. This code provides a framework that can be used as a reference for
decision making processes.
What is the difference between Ethics and Professionalism?

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• Ethics refers to the guidelines that state the dos and don’ts in a specific context
whereas professionalism refers to the specific traits that are expected of a
professional.
• Ethics are usually stated whereas professionalism is cultivated by the
individual personally.
Ethical Principles
1. Honesty
2. Fairness
3. Leadership
4. Integrity
5. Compassion
6. Nonmaleficence
7. Respect
8. Responsibility
9. Loyalty
10. Accountability
11. Beneficence
12. Justice
13. Transparency, and;
14. Environmental concerns.