ROLE OF COMPUTER IN THE BANKING SECTOR

This study explains the role of computer in the banking sector. It further describes the need and importance for banks make use of Micro Computers for effective utilization and storage of data. The use of computer in the banking sector can be an efficient tool in speeding up the process and cutting the price of creating and undertaking figure works. There are numerous benefits of Computer in the Banking Sector such as: Bring about simplicity in term of worrying condition. Reduce stress of work and consuming less in the bank. This work shall be of vital benefit to the financial sectors, on an effective use of computer in delivering precise data.

 

A bank can be defined as a financial institution, organization or a place that provides a financial service, equally one can also defined bank as an establishment authorized by a government to accept deposits, pay interest, clear checks, make loans, act as an intermediary in financial transactions, allows the purchase of bills and checks or the purchase and sales of securities and provide other financial services to its customers. 

The first computers were people! That is, electronic computers (and the earlier mechanical computers) were given this name because they performed the work that had previously been assigned to people. “Computer” was originally a job title: It was used to describe those human beings (predominantly women) whose job was to perform the repetitive calculations required to compute such things as navigational tables, tide charts and planetary positions for astronomical almanacs. A long time ago, people charged with the duty of collection and disbursements of tax were encountering problems in calculations. In those days, the problems faced by the early method of data processing involved the use of animal skin, feather, grains etc. were very difficult for them to handle. These were later replaced by the use of pens, inks, papers, chalk, etc. just to supplement human efforts in counting, recording, manipulating, sorting, etc. of data these methods were so boring, frustrating, time consuming and also associated with some errors. 

So further research continues, in France 1642 Blaise Pascal, at age 19 invented the Pascaline as an aid to his father who was a tax collector in calculating columns of figures. The computer has probably been introduced and the basic of its purpose is the processing of data into information. The term data is a symbolic representation of facts about people, object or place. A computer is a programmable electronic machine that performs high-speed mathematical or logical operation or otherwise process information. In fact the importance of information to an individual or organization cannot be over emphasized, in carrying out day-to-day activities. Every individual, organization needs information. Banks and other financial institution are heavy users of computers in maintaining customer’s accounts, ledger, updating, electronic fund transfer and processing of huge amount of cheques, credit cards, and the major transactions that takes place daily. The up coming automatic teller machines (ATM) already installed by most banks are the most visible symbols of computer in the banking sector in Nigeria. They are of course everywhere in Europe, America and Asia. The Automatic Teller machine (ATM) enable bank customer to withdraw, recharge phones, transfer funds from their various accounts even when the bank is closed physically. Each transaction made, the customer’s record is updated and he or she is provided with a print out or notification. However the use of computer in the banking sector can be an efficient tool in speeding up the process and reducing the cost of producing and undertaking figure works. More effective control procedure in computerized system can bring about sales budgeting and credit control. Many credit cards, smart cards, master cards can also be used to withdraw money at an ATM and the online banking against the credit limit extended to the card. Customers keep their money in the bank safely and it is paid out when needed by means of cheques and other ways.

In order to get used to clearing of bank, we will look at the development of banking with more reference to the World Bank (IBRD) little is known about banking before the middle ages. The Greeks and Mesopotamian had banked as did the Romans. These civilizations regarded banking as “Unnatural” that some banks allowed to operate. The term bank drives from the latin bancuss, which refers to the nature of the institution changes over the many years. The report of commission 111 entrusted by the Bretton Woods congress with working out of the Charter of the IBRD concluded that “it was accidentally born with name Bank mainly because no satisfactory sum could be found in the dictionary of this unprecedented institution”. Nevertheless, this designation seemed to define adequately the institutions’ behavior for the first fifteen years of it's life. The bank took pains to present itself as a sound financial undertaking and adopted stand common to commercial financial institutions economic. Backwardness is regarded as a problem that could be deal with by relying on the normally process of financial institution that by raising capital in the richer countries and transferring it to the needy outs once that dept and complexity of the problems faced by the developing countries were recognized the conventional terms of investment lending became unwieldy even dysfunctional constraints. 

The concept of a bank as a financial institution modal on tradition investment banks gave way to a vision of a development finance institution. A few years of experience were enough to bring about this transformation in the concept of the bank, from this brief history, we have come to know the history of banking and its development.