In-House Bank

An in-house bank is a structure in which group treasury provides banking-like services to the company's own subsidiaries internally.

Instead of each entity acting almost like a separate banking customer, the group centralizes selected cash and funding activities inside treasury.

Why companies set one up

An in-house bank is usually created to improve control, centralize liquidity, and reduce the need for external bank movements between group entities.

It can help treasury manage:

• internal funding
• internal settlements
• intercompany balances
• group-wide liquidity visibility

What services it may provide

Depending on the design, an in-house bank may support intercompany current accounts, internal funding through intercompany lending, FX support, and settlement coordination across the group.

Why it is more complex than it sounds

At first glance, an in-house bank can sound like a simple efficiency project. In reality, it usually involves legal, tax, accounting, operational, and systems considerations. That is why companies normally implement it only when they have enough scale and process maturity.

When it tends to make more sense

This structure is more common in larger or more international groups where liquidity is spread across many entities and countries. It is closely related to cash pooling and broader liquidity centralization efforts.