BYTE - Soluciones de Software para Industria Bancaria y Telecomunicaciones: Sistema Bancario Financiero Byte

A SOLUTION FOR BANKING AND FINANCIAL BUSINESSES

Byte’s Financial Banking System has been designed to provide an operation, control, and marketing tool for any financial institution that requires state-of-the-art technology to satisfy its competitive market.

Byte’s Financial Banking system is made up of a set of independent but integrable modules that allow automation in all departments, according to their needs and investment capabilities. That is, an initial large investment is not necessary; investment may be gradual, as the project progresses.

This system covers all operations a financial institution normally performs. It does it by means of more than 80 modules which, all together, are the only option in the market that allows such a high level of automation using breakthrough technology.

Increased Productivity

Today, information systems go beyond automating operations. They are a tool that provides general help to institutions, increasing productivity in operational areas of the business. Byte’s banking solution does it based on the many advantages it poses, some of the most important being the following:

Highly parametric system that helps the institution react quickly to changes and new needs;
High-standard design in all of its modules, both regarding operation and presentation, allowing users to easily adapt to the different modules;
Graphic environment that facilitates quick learning among users;
Integration of operational transactions into the accounting system, by means of friendly and flexible interfaces;
Online manuals available for all users, providing prompt and efficient help and reducing the need for specialized support personnel.

Architecture of Byte’s Banking System

Byte’s Financial Banking System is made up of different modules that together provide an integrated solution. Following is a brief description of some of these modules:

Clients

It allows a global vision of all operations any given client has performed with the institution and it may keep track of the reciprocity of the client towards the bank. It allows client grouping to track those groups of potential interest to the bank.

Operational Products

Byte’s Financial Banking System is a set of products having multi-company and multi-currency features, allowing a single system to have overall control of a corporation’s transactions. The main modules among this product include:

Collection

Current account, savings account, fixed term deposits, automatic transfer accounts, certified checks, compensation of checks, limits and automatic release of reserve funds, overnight accounts, security administration, promissory notes, and mortgage bonuses.

Fund placement

Assessment of individuals for credit, scoring, financial analysis, control of applications and credit pressure, loans (common loans, micro-business loans, and corporate loans), limits and credit lines, discount documents, credits on current account, asset valuation, recovery control, analysis of delayed payments, collection by telephone, and personal investments.

Administrative products

They are a set of modules that complement the integrated solution, allowing access to updated critical financial information necessary in decision making. Byte’s Banking System has several administrative components having multi-company and multi-currency features, with all the associated benefits. The main module and the components that make it up are:

ADMINISTRATIVE SOLUTION

Byte’s Executive Financial System (EFS) includes:

Banking accounting, budgets, account auxiliaries, profitability analysis by responsibility center, cash flow, integration of accounts, consolidation of companies, report generators for the banking superintendent agency (Superintendencia de Bancos), bank books (checks issued and balance conciliation), accounts payable, fixed assets control, purchases and supplies.

GENERAL FEATURES

Benefits

Open Platform

Companies seek to reduce operation expenses in order to be more competitive. One of the hardest decisions involved is selecting the software and the platform for the IT solution they want to purchase.

The solution to your problems can be approached from different angles:

One way is first determining the platform or equipment for the software as well as the software available for the selected equipment. Alternatives are evaluated and an application is purchased.

This is usually done this way either because advisors or decision-making executives know enough about the selected platform or because a previous significant investment has been made in purchasing equipment or training personnel. Therefore, considering other possible applications that might solve current problems is not an option, if they are not compatible with the platform defined.

Another way is first determining the functionality required by any software intended to provide a solution. The software must be evaluated to assess if it responds to the company’s current needs and future projects. The platforms over which applications being considered work are also evaluated for functionality and finally, the application and platform are purchased (hardware and software).

This is probably a better approach, since it evaluates the functionality of applications, without any prejudice about the platform they run on. Normally, this type of approach is used when the company has not made large investments in equipment, or when it is having problems with the current equipment or application and doesn’t mind investing a little more. Also when the technological solution is crucial for the business.

With an open-platform solution, BYTE offers its clients the following advantages:

The client may first assess the functionality of the software being considered.
If the client wishes to keep the current platform, he may do so without having to train his personnel.
If the client would prefer to change the platform, he can choose among several suppliers and brands.

Platform Independence

Maintaining investments made previously on equipment, software, and personnel is an important consideration when selecting the main application for the company. Now you will be free to decide whether you change the platform, you keep it, you upgrade it, or if you prefer a strategic combination of two or more application servers, in order to better balance processes in your business.

BYTE software offers the advantage of running its applications from different independent or combined platforms, which will make application distribution easier, depending on the importance each has for your business.

Independence of the Database

Version 5.0 offers the important benefit of allowing you to continue to use your current database, together with the software and utilities needed to access or manage it, and very importantly, of taking advantage of the current knowledge of technical personnel.

If the decision were to migrate to a new database, for convenient or technologically strategic reasons, the database you need can be selected without needing to buy new software or investing in conversions to newer versions.

Direct Benefits

With Byte’s Financial Banking System Version 5.0, clients will satisfy their needs by means of an excellent, functional, and modern banking solution, without having to change their current platform.

It will allow gradual changes, since it is a modular solution and can incorporate the system’s modules one by one. If the decision were to change the current platform, clients are free to select the supplier, hardware brand, and database, because it only needs a JAVA support environment to run.

For any financial institution, data is among its main assets. Byte’s Financial Banking System Version 5.0 permits storage in the database the client prefers: *Oracle, *DB2, *MS SQL Server, etc. – whichever he feels safer and more comfortable with. Taking advantage of JAVA technology, access to databases is universal (JDBC), using the methods that each platform provides for optimum access without diminishing response time for the final users.

Byte’s Financial Banking System Version 5.0 is a multi-layer application that allows distribution of functions, thus making the most of your investment. You can have an application server which will be responsible for distribution of the different modules to the computers acting as clients, and very easily and automatically, distribute changes among the systems, without needing to reinstall programs and components on each final user’s computer. Additionally, you can have a database server by using a computer devoted exclusively to this purpose, or you can choose to share the application server for this function.

The WEB Model. Byte’s Financial Banking System Version 5.0 uses this model to make the most of JAVA technology and to help users become familiar with application navigators – browsers. The use of this model allows optimal use of the three layers that make up the system, since the computer acts as a client, carries out graphic interface tasks, screen validations and other functions, thus freeing the application server.

Regarding investment in personnel, it usually is an important variable considered when selecting a solution. With Byte’s Version 5.0 applications knowledge developed by technicians in managing the platform or developing databases and programming continues to be useful, whenever the decision is to keep the current platform and databases. Additionally, Byte delivers training for executives and technicians on new technologies, such as object-oriented programming, JAVA programming and the WEB model, to help our clients’ technicians to be updated in systems information technology.

Security

High data availability

Managing daily operations in any business requires information at all times and eliminating problems such as those related to the information system because the database server broke down, or being forced to introduce contingency plans while the server is repaired.

Byte applications offer two solutions that greatly reduce this problem: data redundancy and data distribution.

Byte software uses parameters to manage databases that will be redundant and to locate them in specific servers, allowing instant access to duplicates, without any changes in software. Data can be used when it is needed.

Similarly, parameters are used to decide which will be the main and the secondary data servers, so whenever a main data server is not available, a secondary data server may be accessed automatically, without requiring an intervention from a database administrator or operator.

Databases may be distributed and servers designed for each of your applications, according to how important each is for your business.

Database Integrity

Reliable and timely information are keys to growth and success of any business. With this in mind, Byte applications ensure that no file or entry will be altered without leaving a trace and without sending a timely warning signal.

Decision-making based on computer information is now protected from human errors, frauds, and non-violent crimes managers are currently exposed to when they need to process information in different platforms, many of which users are not familiar with, and that only technicians have direct access to data by means of specialized tools.

Byte applications grant this significant benefit by means of parameters that tell the system two ways of protecting data integrity:

File integrity. It ensures that operations involving adding or erasing entries in the database, outside the Byte application, will generate an error on the database itself that will be detected by the Byte application without the user being aware of it when accessing the database.

Record integrity. It ensures that operations that change or erase the content of any given field of a record will generate an error on the record itself, will be detected by the Byte application, but will not be shown to the user when accessing the record.

Confidentiality of information

It is important to safeguard, even within the company itself, the confidentiality of data that could be accessed by unauthorized persons and either be shared with competitors, or simply be used inappropriately.

Field encryption: This advantage of Byte software is activated whenever there is an indication that a field must be encrypted. They system handles its own encryption routine and the fields become legible only to users having authorized access to the encrypted data display options. This is a means to protect confidential information such as balances of current accounts, salary information, accounting data, etc.

Security Levels

Byte software provides the following security levels:

Designation of menus according to the position of the person, clearly separating functions;
Designation of programs that will verify user authorization when executing from a menu, from another program, or from a command line;
Options or functions in a program; that is, a user may use an ABC type program (maintenance with entering, deleting, and changing options) and could only consult information, without adding or erasing any information;
Officer Authorizations Module, which requires entering a password either in the user screen or remotely, for those operations requiring the participation of two persons, or where the amounts to be operated are considered exceptions;
Internal security for the files in the software database, with the possibility of field encryption and verification of record integrity and file. This allows detection of unauthorized alteration of data without using the application.

This proposal includes software application and the services necessary to have it run.

Additional advantages of our Byte solution

Complete software for financial organizations:

Byte’s Financial Banking System has over 80 modules that cover most of the systems information needs of banks in Latin America, at Managerial, Operational, and Administrative levels; it is multi-company, multi-currency, and multi-branch. Modules may be integrated gradually, depending on the functionality required to be competitive and profitable, beginning with a basic package and continuing according to the strategic plans of the institution.

It provides better integration and lower costs, since all modules are part of the solution. Also, a single software supplier provides the complete solution.

Support:

More than 60 of Byte’s 130 employees are technicians working for the Support Center and the Development Center.

Byte provides support service 24 hours a day 365 days a year, by means of a Special Support Agreement.

Integrated and Modular Software:

Examples of module integration:

Automatic accounting in all accounting modules
Automatic credit and debit notes to current and savings accounts, coming from fixed term deposits, loans, and international transactions
Online operation of transactions from cashier to modules such as foreign currency purchase/sale, payment of loans, payments in the international section, etc.
Pledge of fixed term deposits as loan guarantees
Online collection for third parties (electricity, fixed telephone lines, cellular telephone lines, etc.) by means of the Byte IP Series module, that allows TCP-IP communication very easily for any banking institution.
A link to the Human Resources and Payroll module, allowing not only automatic deposits of salaries, bonuses, Christmas bonus, etc, but also the collection of loans, as well as control of surplus or missing amounts at the cashier.

A more versatile and flexible software

Byte’s experience in the financial area over the last 10 years has constantly driven it to improve the functionality of its software that added to the methodology used in the latest projects, make Byte’s solution versatile and very helpful for clients and users.

In short:

Complete software solution for the banking and financial sectors
Technical support
Increased security
Modular and integrated software
A more versatile and flexible software

More and Better Advantages

General Features

New benefits for the client were introduced with Byte’s Financial Banking System Version 5.0. In addition to a mature and proven software designed for the banking system, our clients have the benefit of having it on a WEB model, independent from the platform, with universal access to the databases and completely JAVA programmed.

Direct Benefits

Human Resources

Learning to use the software is easy. This is because of the strict application of standards, both to design and to the appearance of each of the components of the module, navigation and the way the system is operated. Learning to use part of the system is enough, since the same commands and type of messages, as well as the main features are applicable to all components. The learning curve of the rest of the modules is greatly reduced.

Byte’s Financial Banking System has been completely developed and proven. It comes with new manuals in Spanish and the flexibility to incorporate local terminology. It complies with international standards, and has accumulated experience through projects in different countries. These are some of the reasons why it has been accepted so well by final users.

Integration and Minimum Maintenance

The executing platform of Byte systems Version 5.0 is an open environment requiring very little maintenance. This environment allows integration of multiple solutions that can share resources, since in contrast with client/server applications, it uses a simple Java-supported internet browser at the workstations, reducing the need to install other software components.

Cost-Benefit Ratio

Since the execution environment of the system is an open one and since it has been implemented using the concept of multi-layer applications, the client is free to choose the hardware and software components he might need. There are many options available for data base servers, operative systems, and equipment. Software alternatives include some that involve no licensing costs. The features required for workstation hardware are the same for basic configuration hardware available in the market, so very often, no additional hardware is required.

Regarding specialized financial hardware, such as printers, there are also many options of brands and models, so the decision can be based on price and the local support the supplier is able to provide.

Thus, being able to choose from a variety of possible combinations becomes significantly economic.