Banks across the world are trying different things to attract and retain customers.  Offshore banking is the latest of their offerings.  It involves offering banking services in jurisdictions that lie outside the home country of the investor.  There are many offshore jurisdictions offering these services.  The offshore banks originated from Channel Islands.  These Channel Islands are located in France and England.  They were termed as offshore geographically.  This implied that these banks are located outside the boundaries of UK.

Earlier there was a misconception among people that such offshore banks work for only filthy rich or illegal persons.  But people have understood that this is not the case.  There is now a growing awareness among the people the offshore banking is hugely advantageous.  People turn to offshore banking for the numerous tax benefits and freedom from bureaucracy.  The taxes incurred on these offshore accounts are quite less, sometimes even zero.  The offshore banks are not restricted by any rules or regulations.  So they are able to offer better returns than the onshore banks, which are restricted by the governmental regulations. 

Investors have starting opting for offshore banks to take advantage of the tax effective ways to handle large amounts of money.  By holding funds offshore, the investors can also gain more amounts of privacy for people who are concerned about their amount of funds getting revealed.  This is especially beneficial for people who are worried about others learning the true amount invested in the offshore account.  All these plus points of offshore banking service  have increased its desirability and patronage.