Banking software is

enterprise software Enterprise software, also known as enterprise application software (EAS), is computer software used to satisfy the needs of an organization rather than its individual users. Enterprise software is an integral part of a computer-based information ...

that is used by the

banking industry {{set category, first= industries (branches of an economy), alternative=industries, topic=Industry (economics) For other meanings of "industries", see :Industries. ...

to provide and manage the financial products they provide. Within

retail bank Retail banking, also known as consumer banking or personal banking, is the provision of services by a bank to the general public, rather than to companies, corporations or other banks, which are often described as wholesale banking (corporate ba ...

s, banking software typically refers to core banking software and all its interfaces that allow them to connect to other modular software and to the

interbank network An interbank network, also known as an ATM consortium or ATM network, is a computer network that enables ATM cards issued by a financial institution that is a member of the network to be used to perform ATM transactions through ATMs that belo ...

s. Within

investment banking Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by und ...

, banking software typically refers to the electronic processing application software used to access

capital markets A capital market is a financial market in which long-term debt (over a year) or equity-backed securities are bought and sold, in contrast to a money market where short-term debt is bought and sold. Capital markets channel the wealth of savers t ...

Categories

Retail banks

Commercial or retail banks use what is known as core banking software which records and manages the transactions made by the banks' customers to their accounts. For example, it allows a customer to go to any branch of the bank and do their banking from there. In essence, it frees the customer from their home branch and enables them to do banking anywhere. Moreover, core banking software facilitates seamless integration with other channels such as ATMs,

Internet Banking Online banking, also known as internet banking, virtual banking, web banking or home banking, is a system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of financial transactions through the financial institut ...

, payment networks and SMS based banking. This integration ensures that customers can access banking services through various channels, enhancing accessibility and the customer experience. Banking software is used by millions of users across hundreds or thousands of branches. This means that the software must be managed on many machines even in a small bank. The core banking system is a major investment for retail banks and maintaining and managing the system can represent a large part of the cost of running a bank. Given its critical role in daily banking operations and customer interactions, ensuring the smooth functioning and security of the core banking software is of utmost importance for financial institutions.

Investment banks

Investment banks use software to manage their

trading desk A trading room gathers traders operating on financial markets. The trading room is also often called the front office. The terms "dealing room" and "trading floor" are also used, the latter being inspired from that of an open outcry stock exc ...

s and their client's accountants. These systems often connect to financial markets such as securities exchanges or third-party providers such as

Financial data vendor A financial data vendor provides market data to financial firms, traders, and investors. The data distributed is collected from sources such as stock exchange feeds, brokers and dealer desks or regulatory filings (e.g. an SEC filing). History ...

s. For example, a company such as

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

is a financial software, news, and data company that offers financial software tools through the

Bloomberg Terminal The Bloomberg Terminal is a computer software system provided by the financial data vendor Bloomberg L.P. that enables professionals in the financial service sector and other industries to access Bloomberg Professional Services through which use ...

. Another example is

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

whose products specialize in financial

information management Information management (IM) is the appropriate and optimized capture, storage, retrieval, and use of information. It may be personal information management or organizational. Information management for organizations concerns a cycle of organiz ...

purchase order A purchase order, often abbreviated to PO, is a commercial document issued by a buyer to a seller, indicating types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services required. It is used to control the purchasing of products and services ...

management, positions and risks, and

financial instrument Financial instruments are monetary contracts between parties. They can be created, traded, modified and settled. They can be cash (currency), evidence of an ownership, interest in an entity or a contractual right to receive or deliver in the form ...

sales. These types of companies provide control solutions and overall

productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proce ...

for corporate treasury, improved

workflow Workflow is a generic term for orchestrated and repeatable patterns of activity, enabled by the systematic organization of resources into processes that transform materials, provide services, or process information. It can be depicted as a seque ...

, central banking, bank treasury, exchange and global back-office operations. Examples of these back-office tasks include IT departments that keep the phones and computers running (operations architecture), accounting,

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...

(customer relations) and sales and marketing where they come into contact with their customers. With the help of these software companies, there is

efficiency Efficiency is the often measurable ability to avoid making mistakes or wasting materials, energy, efforts, money, and time while performing a task. In a more general sense, it is the ability to do things well, successfully, and without waste. ...

and proper management of transactions both in the front and

back office A back office in most corporations is where work that supports '' front office'' work is done. The front office is the "face" of the company and is all the resources of the company that are used to make sales and interact with customers and clien ...

s of banking firms and other financial institutions.

References

{{reflist Banking Financial software