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END OF DAY (EOD) AND BEGIN OF DAY (BOD) OPERATIONS

EOD - BRANCH LEVEL
On completion of the day's transaction, the branch has to do an EOD operation. Though the EOD is
done at the central data centre for the bank as a whole, the branch has to do the EOD checks to find out
whether there are any transactions are pending to be authorised. Once the EOD at the branch is done,
the users at the branch will not get access to any of the modules for doing transactions but will get
access to certain limited modules such as account enquiry.
BOD - BRANCH LEVEL

The branch has to do the BOD operation to begin the day's transaction. This is done before the day's
operations start. After the BOD the users will be given access to the full module so that they can do
transactions.

EOD - CENTRAL DATA CENTRE LEVEL

EOD operations at CDC will start around 10 PM at the Central Data Centre. The EOD start time is so
fixed so that all branches complete the day's transaction before 10 PM daily. The branches will be cut
off from the Host before start of EOD to ensure that branches do not do any transaction after start of
EOD. It is during EOD that the day's backup is taken. It is pertinent to state in this context that the data
for the entire Bank is stored at CDC (Central Data Centre) level and all updating and back up is to be
made at CDC level. The EOD process will take care of all these updating of the day's transactions,
generation of reports, etc. Once the EOD is completed, the start of day (SOD) process is done at the
CDC level. The SOD process takes care all the reposting of ATM transactions, which happened during
EOD process was running. Once SOD process is completed, branches will be able to get access to the
system. The EOD/SOD process is done for all the branches at one consolidated stretch and will take
around 7 to 8 hours.
27.10 INFORMATION SECURITY
Information security is the responsibility of every employee of an organisation. As all employees of the
bank are responsible for protecting the information assets of the bank as also maintaining the security
of data, they are required to acquaint themselves with the accepted policies of the bank in this regard
and adhere to the same. The core banking solution should take care of the various aspects of information
security. A brief note on how information security is envisaged is given below.
What is information systems security?
Information systems security provides essential information for managing the security of an organisation
where information technology is an important factor. It is mainly for all the staff, who are the first-line
support, responsible for the daily, efficient operation of security policies, procedures, standards, and
practices. It covers:
- Access control systems and methodologies
- Computer operations security
- e-mail and internet access
- Application and systems development
- Business continuity and disaster recovery planning
- Telecommunications and network security

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Physical security
Cryptography
Security management practices
Law, investigations, and ethics
-

Standard Practices for Usage of PCs and Laptops

The following are the accepted usage practices for desktop and laptop users:
1. Users are responsible for the security of their desktops and should take adequate measures to
restrict physical and logical access to their desktops.
2. The hardware/software will have to be configured securely as per the guidelines of the bank.
Secure configuration shall mean enabling auto anti virus updates, enabling firewalls (where the
operating system allows the same), enforcing passwords, disabling macros by default, patch
management (software upgrades) or any other such configuration standards that shall be decided
by the competent authority from time to time.
3. The users should not change any hardware configuration, settings in the operating system or any
applications installed on their desktops. If users require any change in hardware (e.g. attaching a
CD-ROM drive or an increase of system memory) or software settings, they should contact
respective EDPs. Any change in hardware/software settings, desired by the user, will be vetted by
the competent authority.
4. Users should not install any software or applications, on their desktop, that is not authorised or
not essential to bank's business. If the users require additional software, they should be installed
only after getting it vetted by the competent authority.
5. Users should not connect modems to their machines unless and otherwise approved by the
appropriate authority. Accessing external networks, including internet, using modems, exposes
the entire network to several risks.
6. The passwords selected should be of a minimum eight characters with a combination of alphabets
and digits. The passwords should be changed at periodic intervals at least once every month.
1. Protection measures.
To prevent the risk of unauthorised access, users should adopt the following measures:
- a.
Log out of all applications or turn off the desktop, if leaving the desktop unattended
for an
extended period.
- b.
To prevent unauthorised access while desktop is unattended for short durations,
enable the
screen saver with password protection.
- c.
In the case of core banking users, care should be taken not to leave the terminals in the
middle
of a transaction.
- d.
Disable sharing of folders in desktop with other users over the network.
-

PASSWORD MANAGEMENT

POLICY 1. Password Usage

Employees (Users) are responsible for all activities originating from their computer accounts.
As a first level security measure, access is allowed to any information system only after authentication
through valid passwords at both the operating system level and application level. Users should,
therefore, protect the confidentiality of their accounts through good password management and should
not allow anyone else to operate their accounts.
-

- 2.

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Password Construction

Users should choose passwords that are easy to remember but difficult to guess. Some of the
guidelines for password constructions are:
Own name, short form of own name, own initials, names of family, friends, co-workers, company
or popular characters should not be used.
Personal information like date-of-birth, address, telephone numbers, etc., should not be used.
Common words found in English dictionary should not be used.
- Word or number patterns like aaabbb, qwerty, zyxwvuts, 123321, etc., should not be used.
Any of the above words preceded or followed by a digit (e.g. secretl, lsecret) should not be used.
Strong passwords would have a minimum length of eight characters and can be constructed through
a mix of numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.), special characters (!, @, #, $, etc.) and capital letters (A, S, C,
etc.).
One way to create complex, but easy to remember passwords, is to take a known word or phrase
and convert it using numerals, special characters, and capital letters.
-

- 3.
-

Password Protection
a. Users should not share their passwords with anyone including colleagues and IT staff.
Users
should also not ask others (including customers and colleagues) for their passwords. All passwords
are to be treated as sensitive, confidential information. If the password needs to be shared under
unavoidable circumstances, care should be taken to change it at the next log in by the owner of
the password.
b. Users should ensure that nobody is watching when they are entering password into the
system.
Users should also not watch when others are entering passwords in their system.
c. User should not keep a written copy (in paper or electronic form) of their password in an
easily
locatable place. If the password needs to be written down, ensure that these are stored securely
and are masked or scrambled (e.g. by changing one or more characters of the password).
d. Users should change their password regularly. While some applications will enforce
password
change and complexity on users automatically, it may not be feasible to enforce it for all accounts
and for all applications. Users must change their passwords under any of the following
circumstances:
At least once in thirty days
As enforced by system (applications and operating system)
If password has been shared with someone else
As soon as possible, after a password has been compromised or after you suspect that a
password has been compromised.
e. Users who have been authorised to use the smart cards or private keys should safeguard
them
carefully as compromising the same could have wide ramifications.
27.11 INTERNET AND WORLD WIDE WEB - INFLUENCES ON BANKING

The twentieth century has been the century of the advent of Internet, e-mail and e-commerce.
Internet is the inter-connection between several computers of different types belonging to various
-

networks all over the globe. It is a network of networks. Internet gives the computer machine
powers that are

540

mind-boggling. To send (or receive) data within a matter of seconds to someone beyond the
country was unthinkable before the advent of the internet. The internet is making a major impact on
the information technology industry. The internet has more than a million computers attached to it.
-

The internet application that is drawing the most attention is the World Wide Web (WWW).
WWW is a series of servers that are interconnected through hypertext. Hypertext is a method of
presenting information in which certain text is highlighted that, when selected, displays more
information on the particular topic. These highlighted items are called hyperlinks and allow the users to
navigate from one document to another that may be located on different servers. The user can use the
browsing software such as Internet Explorer, Mosaic or Netscape Navigator to navigate the web. A
browser is a software that helps the users to navigate the WWW. The web is a graphic medium with
most web pages having some amount of images. The term home page commonly refers to the index
page of any organisations or source of information. The home page has links that take the user to
further levels of information within the same topic or other home pages.
E-mail is the most used feature of internet. It is the sending of messages through the internet as
mail on a definite address. Many sites on the internet provide free e-mail facility.
E-commerce means Electronics Commerce, i.e. buying and selling on the Web. It is a way of
enabling business over the net. Product and services can be offered through sites on the internet. Banks
and other financial institutions are working on various methods, protocols, and standards to enable such
transactions over the Web. The transactions are mostly done through credit cards and, therefore,
security as well as secrecy is very important for a trustworthy electronic commerce solution over the
Web.
Banks in India are not far behind the use of modern technology and many leading banks are
having their own home page, which provides details of the banks, their branches, and the services that
they render. Each branch of a bank has a separate internet address and an e-mail address through
which it communicates with other participants on the net. Banks-in India are now also venturing into ecommerce, slowly but steadily.
With the advent of internet, computer, and the World Wide Web, a modern bank is now
expected to be a 'The Convenience Bank'. It is now expected to have a working schedule of 365 days a
year and 24 hours a day. As against the traditional five and a half days a week banking, it is now a
seven days a week concept adopted by the modern banks. The modern bank network incorporates major
metros and cities aiming to tie-up all industrial and business centres in a network on-line and 'Round
the Clock'. This is designed not just to meet conventional banking needs, but also offers a broad
spectrum of investment options and an assurance of high returns. This philosophy is based on the
belief that a customer should spend less time on banking procedures and more time on his personal
and official work.
A modern bank with interconnected branches offers to the customer the convenience of being a
customer of the entire bank rather than one branch, since all branches are connected via satellite. This
enables an immediate transfer of funds. It also offers the convenience of 'Home-Banking', wherein a
customer calls the bank and Mr Convenience will come to his home/office to open his account
(facilities are normally intra-city only). The system offers the facility of banking 'Round the Clock' with
the automated teller machine (ATM) card. It also offers safety: safe deposit lockers are available in
various sizes to suit a customer's requirement at most branches. The customer has the facility of
banking seven days a week with Sunday banking and the convenience of personalised customer
service including the convenience of telephone banking: Dial 'n' bank. The concept of internet
banking is also fast picking up in India thanks to immense computerisation and technology
innovation.
-

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27.12 LET US SUM UP

A computer is an electronic information-processing device that receives inputs, processes

them with the help of set of instructions called programme and, gives the desired results called
the output.
- Computerised accounting is the performing of the various accounting functions on a
computer.
- A computerised accounting system has several advantages over the traditional manual
accounting system such as speed, accuracy, low cost, etc.
- Various accounting software are available in the market which can perform variety of
functions.
- Banks are on the move to fully computerised environment with centralised database. Core
banking solutions are used for the same.
-

27.13

KEYWORDS

Data: Data mean any facts, observations, assumptions or occurrences. In accounts they mean
accounting
entries to be passed in books of account to prepare financial statement.
Software: A computer is run on the basis of a set of instructions called the software programme
developed
by a computer professional called the programmer.
Computerised Accounting: Computerised accounting means maintaining books of
account and
preparing financial statement using a computer.
Internet: Internet is the inter-connection between several computers of different types
belonging to
various networks all over the globe.
World Wide Web (WWW): WWW is a series of servers that are interconnected through
hypertext.
Hypertext is a method of presenting information in which certain text is highlighted that, when
selected,
- displays more information on the particular topic. These highlighted items are called
hyperlinks and
allow the users to navigate from one document to another that may be located on different
servers.
-

27.14

TERMINAL QUESTIONS

- What is meant by computerised accounting and what are its advantages?

State the features of computerised accounting.

- Name a few computerised accounting software available in the market and briefly explain
their functions.
4.What are the disadvantages of computerised accounting?
5.What are the major differences between a manual and a computerised accounting?
6.What are the scope and experiences in banking of computerisation?
7.Write a short note on internet, Word Wide Web and modern banking.
8.Write a short note on core banking solution.
9.Write a short note on information security.
10. State whether the following statements are True or False:
(a) Computerised accounting is a high speed, accurate and error free accounting.

(b) Data stored inside a computer and its processing are easily visible.
(c) Computerised accounting software may be single or multiple user type software.
(d) Computer includes in its meaning computer peripherals also.
(e) Ready-made and tailor-made, both the types of computerised accounting software are available
in the market.

(f)

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(g)

11. Fill in the blanks:

(h)____________(a)

means accounting performed by a computer.

(b) The set of instructions written by a programmer for a computer is called_______________or a
(c) Regular______________of data is required to guard against loss of data.
(i)_____________(d)

destroy computer data.

(j) 27.15 ANSWERS TO TERMINAL QUESTIONS

10. (a) True (b) False (c) True (d) False (e) True.
11. (a) Computerised accounting; (b) computer programme, software programme; (c) back up;
(d) Computer viruses.

12.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
13. Anthony Robert N. and James Reece, Accounting Principles.

Bhattacharya S.K. and John Dearden, Accounting for Management.

Meigs Walter B. and Robert F. Meigs, Accounting. The Basis for Business

14.
15.

Decisions.
16. R.L. Gupta and V.K. Gupta, Financial Accounting.
S.P. Jain and K.L. Narang, Financial Accounting.

17.
18.