Banking Software

What is Banking Software?

Banking software, also called core banking software, supplies the infrastructure to build, deploy, and administer financial products. Additionally, banking software stores account-holder data in compliance with local law. It also handles financial transaction processing and accounting. Finally, banking software is responsible for the look and feel of online and mobile banking, customer self-service portal, and other customer interactions.

Top banking software vendors are sophisticated in banking as well as software. They offer design consulting and understand the stringent compliance needs of financial institutions. Top banking software vendors emphasize flexibility and customizability to suit personalized customer experiences and financial products.

Beyond common features of banking software, banking software vendors offer platforms tailored to the needs of different kinds of banks (e.g. retail, corporate, etc). Banking platforms may provide non-banking specific features, like marketing content management, or marketing distribution. These non-banking features tailored to banks may be valuable to some companies with specific finance compliance concerns.

Banking Software Features & Capabilities

Features common to core banking software are:

• Real-time account & transaction processing
• Financial product builder
• Customizable interface and product workflow
• Customer self-service portal & management
• Online payment processing & bill pay
• Source capture & remote deposit
• Customer interaction (e.g. live chat)
• Account-holder transaction history tracking
• Account-holder data & document store
• Multi-currency funds management
• Financial instrument workflow
• Accounting workflow
• Mobile app development

Banking Software Integrations & Ancillary Products

Because of compliance rules peculiar to banking, banking software vendors frequently offer suites of ancillary products. These may cover the business needs for specific kinds of financial institutions. Some modules and add-ons from popular vendors cover:

• Fraud risk management
• Financial crime mitigation
• Line of credit & credit background check
• Loan origination & servicing
• Corporate supply chain financing
• Customer wealth management
• Investor servicing & accounting
• Enterprise content management
• Marketing resource management and automation
• Banking investment & operational intelligence
• Support for Islamic banks

Banking Software Comparison

When comparing different banking software options, consider these factors:

• Data Security: Consider what security measures each software offers. All banking software offers some level of security for compliance reasons. However, maintaining up to date digital security is an ongoing challenge for vendors. Factors like user and access management will also impact the ease of maintaining security day to day.
• On-Premise vs. Cloud-Based: Banking software has traditionally been deployed on-premise, but many leading vendors now offer cloud-based technology as well. Cloud-based systems can be easier to deploy and reduce management costs, but also reduce direct control over business and user data.
• Integrations: How well can each platform integrate with other systems? All modern banking systems should have some level of API integrability, but not all are equally easy to implement. Look for reviewer feedback on use cases that have integrated with systems that the bank has already implemented, such as BI tools, HR platforms, or other finance systems.

Pricing Information

Because banks vary widely in size and specialty, costs of banking software vary in the extreme. Few banks meet their needs with simple subscription-based offerings. Banking software tends towards very high modularity and pricing depends on the breadth of modules and services required, as well as licenses and installations.