How Custom Fields Enable Extensible Banking
by Ricardo Vidal, Chief Product Officer at Oradian September 12, 2022One of the great advantages of a cloud-based core banking system is its inherent extensibility – that is, it has been designed to allow for the addition of new features in real-time, and to be configured by the user without external input.
Although financial institutions fundamentally want something that works straight off-the-shelf, extensibility means they can continue configuring their core banking system whenever they need new features and functions.
That might be something as simple as using APIs to connect to third-party software like messaging or accounting programmes or at a more advanced level, taking the data from those integrations and storing it directly on their core banking system.
Extensibility enables financial businesses to transform their core banking system to meet long-term organisational needs, add and configure features as required, and build a platform that unlocks growth now and into the future.
Having the scope for configurability is particularly useful when it comes to management reporting, where specific information is required to meet regulatory requirements or create detailed customer profiles.
This is no better exemplified than with custom fields. But what are custom fields, and what implications do they have for the way organisations use their core banking systems?
What are custom fields?
Custom fields are a powerful tool for configurating a core banking system.
A custom field is a value added by the user to gather extra information not captured by one of the existing fields in the core system. That might be additional personal information used to enhance loan decisioning, or data required to meet local regulatory rules.
They allow users to configure their own data inputs so they can collect the exact data the organisation requires without the need for updates or development by the core banking provider.
The ability to input and gather the data required means custom fields transforms a financial company’s capacity for reporting and analysis, deepening the insights they can learn about their portfolio.
Custom fields are, as a rule, simple to use, and can be quickly added or removed in real time, allowing users to update, add, or remove any number of fields as needed.
They’re also a “no-code” solution, meaning they can be implemented without any coding of development.
Custom fields take you further
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Custom fields not only increase the scope of data gathering – they enable core banking system users to refine their entire reporting process.
They provide real-time data on the variety of topics most important to an individual business. This custom data can then be instantly utilised in reporting and integrated with dynamic reports.
This produces much more accurate reports than before, with the additional information needed to deliver services or meet compliance rules.
This allows users and management to enrich existing data, adding more layers of information to personal accounts, compliance, collection, recovery, credit scoring and much more. The sheer scope of custom fields makes it a gamechanger for banks and lenders.
Simply put, custom fields extend what a core banking system is capable of, adding a whole new layer of configurability.
