Databases and financial institutions

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STEP 1

First, what are the functions of banks that can use databases like DB2, Microsoft Access and Oracle? These functions are related to accepting deposits, issuing checking and savings accounts, making and issuing credit cards, storing ATM transactions, debit card information, storing information about wire transfers, cashiers checks, cashing checks and making loans.

The function of the databases is to make these functions fast, low cost, error free, hassle free and make the information accessible from all over the world. Let us take a practical example. One of the most important functions of any bank is to process the loans, right from the beginning to its funding. Quick loan processing can greatly increase the profitability of a bank. Ohio Savings Bank uses an Oracle database to process its loans efficiently. The details as requested are given below from a website.

This material is taken from the website http://dotnet.sys-con.com/read/154243.htm 'Ohio Savings Bank's mortgage system, which processes hundreds of millions of dollars of transactions daily, relies on an integrated Oracle Database 10g and Microsoft .NET architecture. The bank adopted an Oracle Database 10g grid computing infrastructure to improve its information technology (IT) utilization.
In 2004, the bank adopted an Oracle Database 10g grid computing infrastructure to improve its information technology (IT) utilization and deliver a higher quality of service. Ohio Savings Bank's grid supports a number of mission-critical systems including the heart and soul of its business -- a mortgage wholesale and retail application transaction processing system. Comprised of an Oracle Database and Microsoft middle-tier applications, the bank's transaction heavy mortgage system manages the lifecycle of loans from origination to funding. It is used by internal branches, loan processing offices, and brokers that originate loans across country and sell the loans to Ohio Savings Bank.

A three-node cluster using Oracle Real Application Clusters on two-way HP ProLiant DL 380 servers with Intel Xeon processors running Red Hat Enterprise Linux v. 3 powers Ohio Savings Bank's mortgage system. This clustered Oracle Database is fully integrated with Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 applications running on Windows.

A key component in the bank's integration of Oracle and Microsoft environments is their use of Oracle Data Provider for .NET ( ODP.NET), a driver that delivers optimized data access to Oracle Database functionality from a .NET environment. ODP.NET enables developers to take advantage of advanced Oracle Database features, including Oracle Real Application Clusters, Oracle XML DB, and advanced security functionality, among many others. It enables the bank to easily and flexibly use XML throughout its applications and interface and with Oracle Database. ODP.NET can be used from any .NET language, including C# and Visual Basic .NET. This is what the executive president said: "ODP.NET serves as a bridge -- enabling our developers to move seamlessly from the Microsoft world ...