Here is a glimpse at the future of finance. When Deutsche Bank AG set out to win a role on Apple Inc. 's $17 billion bond, it eschewed Wall Street's traditional tactics.

Instead of flying well-groomed bankers to Cupertino, Calif., to charm Apple's top executives with PowerPoint presentations, Deutsche relied on iTunes. The German bank has handled the back-office work for Apple's online store in recent years, according to people familiar with the situation.

By the glitzy standards of deal making, moving money around the world for iTunes is mundane. But the fact that Apple trusted Deutsche with such a vital, if rote, function helped the bank land the lead role (with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ) on the largest corporate-bond deal in history last month , the people said.

Welcome to the new Wall Street, where back-office work trumps backslapping. For all the talk that "Wall Street is back," bad habits and all, from the ravages of the 2008-2009 crisis, there are signs that the financial industry is undergoing a profound transformation.

It has taken half a decade of denial and trial and error, but some of the world's largest banks seem to be close to figuring out how to make money in an environment of tighter rules, less benign markets and more demanding customers.