Digitalization is changing the world. It’s especially true in the world of banking, where many companies fight for their customers. Thus, to be successful in financial services, a business has to offer the best banking software, and remain convenient, reliable, safe, compliant, and modern. A few years ago, traditional banks were the kings, so they could afford certain flaws and issues. Today, the situation is entirely different.
Many fresh fintech startups confront traditional businesses. They offer much more sophisticated services and products: digital-only solutions, mobile apps, instant transfers, 24/7 support centers, and so on. It’s now possible thanks to top banking software systems. So, how do these solutions work? What are the most famous examples? Which functions and modules are essential for the best banking software? Let’s find out in this guide by banking experts from DICEUS!
Are you searching for a software vendor? Here’s more information about software development for financial services.
First off, we want to start with a brief overview of the modern digital banking universe. To understand how the related software works and how it can help your business, it’s essential to know the recent trends. The majority of top banking software companies take these tendencies into account to provide the most demanded services or products. So, here’s the question.
So what do you think, what are the trends in the development of banking software for the next few years?
Why do we expect to see an increase in spending on banking automation solutions? Trends require banks to become more digital to meet all the requirements and expectations of the clients. We can admit that this is not the cost growth but efficient investment in top banking software solutions. Now, let’s look at the basics of our topic and then dive into detail.
Get professional consulting on banking software development and implementation.
What is banking software for the fintech industry? Shortly, it’s a means of communication between a bank and a user. It serves to improve the workflow inside the company and its branches, for easy investment policies, and to provide the services that solve the users’ needs.
Here are three major requirements for the banking software:
There are many types of banking software, but they often share the same set of features. The thing is that many systems are packaged. Vendors sell them to various market players. That’s why the presented functions are generalized to satisfy all customers of top banking software companies, from small fintech startups to multinational corporations.
On average, the list of features looks as follows:
Unlike off-the-shelf solutions, custom tools developed by dedicated vendors can include other functions. If you know what is financial software and realize which business goals you can cover with it, a custom development team like DICEUS can build software solutions tailored to your needs specifically.
Let’s also check out how banking software works. According to the features listed above, there are a few basic modules that host these features. Depending on the chosen architecture model, these modules can work together or independently, allowing customer banks to turn them on and off. The best online banking software usually centers around several essential modules that cover all the areas of client demand.
It’s impossible to imagine any retail bank without the best online banking software. Surely, today, banks can offer their services round the clock for all clients in any part of the world. Custom solutions give banks a chance to fully satisfy the needs and requirements of their clients.
The latest trend in the private banking niche is digital-only banking. Obviously, banks exist in an online world without ground branches. Clients use their mobile devices, watches, or other IoT gadgets. Banks get closer to their clients, and it’s much easier to forecast revenue with e-banking software.
There’s no need for the clients to own a smartphone to get the most from SMS banking features. Most banks provide their clients with the opportunities to pay bills, enable or disable some services, and so on. Everything required is a short message.
What is banking software for SMS? Usually, it’s a set of three key features:
Top 10 banking software firms offer basic SMS services. However, the development requires a thorough approach to make the final product robust and user-friendly. There shouldn’t be complicated commands or lines for the clients. Simplicity is the key to success here.
Learn more about our engineering services for mobile banking.
Merchant banks differ from retail banks as they’re more similar to investment banks, providing their services to businesses and not individuals. Which software used in the banking sector can satisfy merchant requirements? Overall, it has to offer features for collecting information, processing it, and storing it. It can be a portfolio, information about funds or accounts, history of trades, and so on.
It’s good to have a software solution that will help banks track transactions and get accurate reports on every portfolio. The user-friendly interface of the software should comprise various charts, analytics, and other blocks of data. Everything should be easy to access and perceive in real-time.
Top banking software should have a high level of security to prevent any data leakage. The work of security solutions shouldn’t make the overall workflow slower or influence it anyhow. Bank employees should have limited access to the information depending on their position in the enterprise and the tasks they need to solve.
The fintech industry and investment banking niche aren’t overloaded with a large number of software solutions for automating everyday processes. What we have now is a pack of services or cloud solutions that solve very specific tasks. What banks require is the best banking software solution that will comprise improving the workflow inside the company and the quality of services.
Most banks provide complex transactions and deal with huge enterprises where there’s a need to process big blocks of data in no time. Open-source solutions are not a good fit here. The less human work is required, the more revenue an investment bank can gain. Online access to any piece of information that is updated in real-time lets the enterprise show a better market performance.
According to different estimations, 10 leading financial software companies control almost 50% of the market. The list includes Microsoft, FIS, Fiserv, SAP, Oracle, Temenos, SAS, and others. But we also can look at the list of top 10 banking software solutions, and exact products. They feature different functions, from core banking to digital-only offers. You can explore these systems to find out if they suit your needs.
Of course, if you need certain customization or fully exclusive software, be sure to reach us. We provide free consultations to help you understand your needs and identify the best banking software option.
Well, you already know that there are many vendors on the market. Usually, they develop and sell one or a few products that are similar for all customers. And this approach represents the first way to invest money in the best core banking software. Basically, you purchase a system from Microsoft, Oracle, FIS, SAP, or another team. Further, you may want to invest in customization.
If we take the US, an average yearly income of a software developer is $100,000. There’s a need to have a team with the project manager and a team to cope with each step of the software development cycle. There are a few disadvantages here:
But there’s the second option. It’s outsourcing development. What you have here are top banking software companies that act out as in-house teams with the difference that they are located outside the office. Depending on the project, it can be developed in a month or a few months. You have a fixed price for the project that is divided into milestones.
The cost of the project depends on the number of hours that the team spends on work and its complexity in general. The sum may vary from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per project.
How much do you need to pay for custom development services? Here’s a calculation for you.
We’ve developed various projects for banks, and we’ve come to use the agile methodology for making the processing time- and cost-efficient. We present ourselves not just as an outsourcing company for solving some tasks. We don’t just sell hours of work performed by our team members. Instead, you can get the best banking software from our team that cares about your success.
The Agile approach for building banking software allows us to deliver solutions that will let each enterprise reach its business goals. We have a list of technologies that are interchangeable. We don’t stick to some specific tools or frameworks, and this gives complete freedom to find or even create the best solutions for our clients.
Building a project is a great challenge as the quality of the final release will influence the bank revenue in the future. Here are the major stages in the development lifecycle:
Types of banking software matter. Similarly, the quality of the software matters. Choosing a software development vendor should be thorough in making sure there are enough certified developers, and the choice of the stack is wide enough. At DICEUS, we’re proud of delivering only high-quality services for banks. Contact us to find out more details about how we can help you.
Download a guide on how to upgrade core banking in 12 months
It’s pretty simple. In the era of omnipresent digitalization, businesses can’t survive without digital solutions. As for banks, they confront new fintech startups today. Consequently, they have to attract or retain customers to flourish, providing convenient, seamless, and efficient services. However, it’s possible only thanks to banking solutions that automate and facilitate operations and boost user experience.
Technologies change regularly, but there are a few highly-demanded languages and frameworks. Generally, the top 10 banking software tools rely on .NET, Python, Ruby, and Java. Also, there are specific technologies for core banking development: Oracle FLEXCUBE, Finastra, Temenos, etc. Finally, specific middleware includes Corezoid, Fiorano BPM, and Activiti BPM.
Banks invest billions of dollars in software development. For example, here’s what we had a few years ago (in billions): 2018 — $261.1; 2019 — $272.6; 2020 —$284.5; 2021— $296.5