Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist Certification (CAMS) Practice Exam

What is the main responsibility of a Credit Card Issuing Bank?

1. Manage customer complaints

2. Solicit potential customers and issue credit cards

3. Process merchant transactions

4. Provide financial advice to clients

The correct answer is: Solicit potential customers and issue credit cards

The main responsibility of a credit card issuing bank lies in soliciting potential customers and issuing credit cards. This function is central to the role of issuing banks, as they are tasked with evaluating creditworthiness, determining credit limits, and providing the actual credit cards that consumers can use to make purchases. In this context, the issuing bank engages in marketing efforts to attract new customers and facilitate the application process for credit cards. This includes assessing applications, performing necessary checks on the applicant's credit history, and ultimately approving or denying requests for credit. By issuing cards, banks also stipulate the terms and conditions associated with credit use, which is crucial in establishing the bank-customer relationship. While managing customer complaints, processing merchant transactions, and providing financial advice are all important functions in various areas of banking, they are not the primary responsibility of the credit card issuing bank. Customer complaints are typically handled by customer service departments, merchant transactions are processed by payment networks and acquirers, and financial advice is usually a service provided by financial advisors or wealth management divisions. Thus, the focus on customer acquisition and the issuance of credit aligns perfectly with the primary functions of a credit card issuing bank.