Commercial Banking Training

What is Commercial Banking Training?

Commercial banking training is any type of course or formal upskilling that equips learners with the essential skills for a career in commercial banking. These courses and programs are designed to prepare commercial bankers, credit analysts, and underwriters to handle banking products and services by identifying opportunities and managing risks involved in the process.

Learners are equipped with important skills to build relationships with commercial clients and engage with them about high-value conversations that are beneficial to both the bank and the client. Commercial banking training may be offered as a more traditional classroom option or as a self-paced online e-learning program.

Delivery Options for Commercial Banking Training

1. Instructor-led online course

An online course allows learners to enroll in commercial banking training without actually going to traditional classrooms. The course is facilitated by an instructor who is available to guide learners through each lesson. The instructor is available to respond to learner’s questions and review assignments and case studies.

Learners are provided with learning materials in Word, Excel, and PPT file formats, which can be downloaded onto the learner’s computer. Some online courses offer email and telephone support, where learners can ask questions and submit feedback to the instructor.

2. Facilitated self-study (e-learning)

The self-study option allows learners to take control of their schedules and study at their most preferred time. Once the learner is enrolled in the training, the training provider will distribute supporting materials either by mail (including the course syllabus, textbook(s), and assignments) or electronically through a learning management system.

The learner may have access to a customer support advisor, and they can ask questions through telephone or email. However, there is usually no instructor to communicate with when participating in e-learning. Exams are generally administered online but may also be proctored at a physical location determined by the training provider. Students will receive a certificate of completion at the end of the training courses.

3. Classroom format

The classroom format is the oldest course delivery option, and it involves attending physical lecture halls once or twice per week. The course is taught by qualified instructors who are experienced in the legal, academia, and banking industry.

The format involves live classroom interactions between the instructor and the learners. There are face-to-face interactions, and questions presented to the instructors are answered immediately. The downside, of course, is that this does not permit very much scheduling flexibility for the learner.

Courses Covered in the Commercial Banking Training

The following are examples of some of the courses that may be included in a commercial banking training program:

1. Analyzing financial statements and tax returns

The course covers the analysis of the key financial statements and tax returns of commercial clients. The main financial statements analyzed in the course include the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, cash budgets, pro forma statements, etc.

The course provides learners with the skills required to effectively evaluate a client to determine their ability to pay back borrowed credit. It also teaches learners how to calculate key financial ratios, the considerations that lenders should consider when calculating ratios, and how to use the ratios to compare a company’s performance with other comparable companies in the industry. CFI’s Financial Analysis for Credit is one of the most comprehensive credit training courses available anywhere.

2. Loan structuring and documentation

Most good training programs will teach loan structuring and documentation; this exposes learners to credit assessment, loan structuring, loan covenants, and how they can be used to match the borrower’s needs to the appropriate loan facility. Learners are equipped with important skills on how to structure the commercial loan, identify sources of repayment that are appropriate for the loan, and evaluate the adequacy of the collateral provided by the buyer.

This type of course describes the loan documentation process and the requirements that borrowers should meet. The learner is also exposed to key loan documents, loan agreements, and covenants that are involved in the loan review process, as well as the metrics and benchmarks that a borrower must meet before the application can proceed to approval and closing. This course may also equip learners with useful client negotiation skills.

3. Risk rating and loan pricing

A good commercial lending training program will expose learners to various types of credit risk assessment tools. The course may cover the full loan review and underwriting process, elements of credit risk training, and how risk translates into loan pricing. This type of course should cover all aspects of financial analysis, including trend analysis and ratio analysis, so the risk of credit loss to the lender can be effectively quantified.

4. Managing problem loans

A problem loan course should teach essential skills in identifying and managing accounts that are in the early stages of deteriorating, or that are already in breach. An important element in managing problem loans is managing the client relationship effectively; this must all be conducted within the context of a lender’s internal policies and procedures.

Other topics covered in this course include detecting warning signs of problem loans, causes of problem loans, costs associated with deteriorating credit, and potential solutions to problem accounts.

Additional Resources

To keep learning and developing your knowledge base, please explore the additional relevant resources below:

• Analysis of Financial Statements
• Bank Credit Analyst
• Commercial Banking Career Profile
• Top Banks in the USA
• See all career resources