What is a business line?

A business line is a general term which refers to a product or a set of related products that serve a particular customer translation or business need. It is a term that can apply to any industry but is particularly common in banking and insurance.

Line of business is a general term that describes the related product or services a business or manufacturer offers. A company that manufactures solid-state disk drives, for example, might claim its business line is data storage.

A business line serves a particular business need or a particular customer transaction. In insurance, for example, it may be used to designate a statutory set of insurance policies and not a specific business unit. The specifics of the business line are different depending on the industry.

Consumer banking organizations often have a number of business lines to serve consumers’ financial needs including:

credit cards
line of credit or loan program
mortgages
corporate, small business and personal bank accounts

Financial services brokerages cater to higher net worth individuals or businesses and aim to help them grow their wealth by investing in various assets that produce additional income and offer the following business lines:

mergers and acquisitions or partnerships
real estate investments
wealth management

Insurance companies often have multiple business lines, depending on which types of insurance they are authorized to sell. Examples include the following: