The Tech Behind Balancing A Bank

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By Sharon Jones

Banks in the modern world have a much harder job than those in the distant past. When an organization like this would only serve a single town, they only had to keep the records of a few thousand people, making it easy to keep a good record of everyone’s affairs. Nowadays, though, most banks serve millions of customers, in multiple different countries. This creates a lot of challenges when it comes to storing, sharing, and keeping data safe. So, with all this difficulty, just how do they do it?

• Accounts/Records

The amount of data a bank has to store is far too much to be done using someone else’s servers. Instead, this sort of company has to invest in their own systems, often using huge areas of land to house the machines they need. These systems will store information about accounts, company details, and even backups of the whole system. This sort of operation is huge and costs a small fortune.
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When dealing with sensitive data, businesses have to carefully follow laws set out by the countries they work in. For banks, the data they deal with is some of the most sensitive of all. So, it makes sense that they would put a lot into their security. To keep their data safe, companies like this will often use completely proprietary systems. This means that they build everything themselves, making it harder for people to get in from the outside.

• Debt Collection/Records

For most banks, debt is a big part of their work. But, when you have thousands of people borrowing money from you, it can be hard to keep track of everyone’s details. To help with this, most banks will have separate systems to store this sort of information. This helps to keep data more secure, while also avoiding crossover between databases when people are editing them. Along with this, experts will be used when handling changes to the systems.

Keeping details about people borrowing money is one thing. When it comes to getting it back, though, a lot more work has to be done. Special tools can be used to maximize your recoveries and minimize your collection expense with a debt collection lawyer. Utilizing robot calling techniques, it’s possible to send out thousands of calls in minutes without having to use a single person. This saves banks a lot of time and money, while also improving the payment rates they get back on their lending.

• Cash Money/Records

Even though digital banking is quickly taking over, physical money is still a large part of the financial world. When dealing with cash, extra work has to be put in when balancing a branch, ensuring that everything is accounted for. To handle this, most banks will have every till balanced at the end of the working day. Using computers, this information is stored and compared to old results, giving an exact loss or gain on the amount due.

A big part of the balancing process is dealing with the checks and other non-cash transactions they take. This sort of document will often have to be sent somewhere else to be processed, and this needs to be recorded. To do this, the same computer used for the balance will be used to count them. With this information, another document will be printed, and the money can be sent directly to HQ. Keeping records at every stage ensures that all of their money is looked after.

Finally, of course, balances aren’t often enough to make sure that a bank branch is staying afloat. Managers and other employees can fake entries, hiding mistakes or large losses. To avoid this, most branches will be subject to random audits which check to make sure that the branch has everything it’s supposed to. If money is missing, work will be done to find out where it has gone. Slowly, technology is improving this sort of process, but humans will have to be part of the process for a long time.

Hopefully, this post will give you everything you need to know about the ways that banks use technology to make sure they keep on top of their money. Like most individuals, finances can be just as hard for companies like this. When you start to consider the investments, transactions, and other work banks do, it’s hard to understand how they get it all done. Nowadays, computers can be thanked for a lot of this. In the past, though, paper was king, and banks would have to keep physical records of all of their data.