Information Technology in the Banking Sector: RBS Report, Fall 2019

This report provides an overview of the role of Information Technology (IT) in the banking sector, using the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) as a case study. It discusses the importance of IT in RBS's success, specifically highlighting e-banking, marketing, and improved customer services. The report also addresses ethical and social issues related to IT, such as data security, identity theft, and unauthorized service use. Furthermore, it identifies and differentiates various networking technologies like WAN, LAN, and VPN, and explores the significance of intranet and internet for RBS. Finally, the report outlines the stages of the System Development Life Cycle. The report emphasizes the crucial role of IT in modern banking operations and its impact on customer service, transparency, and overall business success, while also acknowledging the associated challenges.

Introduction to Information
Technology

Abstract
This report included various type of roles which are played by Information Technology at
service sector in this report Royal Bank of Scotland was discussed. Later what aer the various
types of networking technologies like WAN, LAN were discussed in this report. This
discussion was followed by social and ethical issues related to use of information technology.
Intranet and internet which have become essential part of businesses today so what are the
importance of intranet and internet were discussed in this report. Later system development
life cycle and its stages have been included in this report.

Table of Contents
Introduction to Information Technology.....................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................4
Role of IT in success of Royal Bank of Scotland........................................................................4
Ethical and Social Issues that Pertaining to Running the Business.............................................5
Identification and Differentiation of Networking Technologies.................................................6
Importance of Intranet and Internet in Royal Bank of Scotland..................................................8
Stages of System Development Life Cycle.................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Information Technology refers to use of computer, networking, storage ans other
physical devices for generation, processing, storing, securing and exchanging all forms of data
which exist in electronic form. There are various forms I which IT is used like personal and
entertainment purpose but its significant use is in business context. Through the use and
application of information technology they are able to create, store and processes data and
information in more effective way so that they are able to save time and money as well. This
report discusses various aspects if Information Technology and its uses in Royal Bank of
Scotland.
Role of IT in success of Royal Bank of Scotland
As stated by Askoul, Khan and Lalitha, 2016 Information Technology have major role to
play in service sector because of various reasons. This is because internet have become a
platform through which they are able to render their services to customers. One such service
sector is Bank. In this report Royal Bank of Scotland have been contextualized. Royal Bank of
Scotland provides various banking services like retail banking services, Corporate banking,
Investment banking, Private banking etc.
role which IT plays in Banking is related to its services like IT have made it possible to use a
service which is known as E-banking.
E-banking
This model is for the growth of banking and people are able to use banking services without
going to the branch of bank. This has contributed in Success of Royal Bank of Scotland as
people who are not in surrounding of the physical locations of the bank are also able to use its
services through internet and use of information technology. This is the role of information
technology that bank and people have managed to use services like credit and debit cards,
ATM, mobile banking, internet banking and EDI (Electronic Data Interchange).
This has increased customers of bank and users of banking services.
Marketing and Banking Success

Information technology have also enabled bank to communicate to their customers and
potential customers through internet and social media marketing (Alshubaily and Altameem,
2017). This increase the reach of bank to various people those who are not in physical access
of the bank. This way bank is able to communicate and increase its visibility and people are
convinced to use services of Royal Bank of Scotland.
Improved Customer Services
Through Information Technology it is possible that people are able to contact and connect
with the bank anytime. This enables bank to give more effective and improved services to the
customers. Problems of customers are timely solved. This also enhance relationship of bank
with their customers and increase and improve rate of customer satisfaction.
Improved Transparency
Through Information technology transparency have increased and bank and customers both
can know every detail about each other and avoid anything which can harm interest of bank
(Alshubaily and Altameem, 2017). Customers are more aware about their right and
responsibility towards services they are getting.
Ethical and Social Issues that Pertaining to Running the Business
Everything comes with their own pros and cons and so have happened with
information technology. Along with information technology various things have become very
easy and effective. But there comes another side which is issues which are related with use of
information technology in the Banking Sector.
As per the view of Sargolzaei and Nikbakht, 2017 There are some issues which Royal
Bank of Scotland can face pertaining use of Information Technology which are-
Security of Data
It is major concern which is related with information technology. Experts of IT has developed
various forms in which they can secure the data which have been created and stored in various
electronic forms. It is not very difficult to get the data stored with bank and this becomes
major issues in context with bank. The reason is that bank has data not only related to its
operations but it contains and store data related to its customers. People can use that data of
customers for their own selfish motives. As there are IT experts who design and develop

various programs of information technology there are people who know how to breach
security of that programs and use that data.
Identity Theft
This is possible through Information Technology to practice malfunction regarding identity
(Bledsoe, 2017). This can be adopted by people when it comes to banking and its services.
Banks require authentic identity and proof related to their customers in this can through the
use of information technology people can theft others identity and use banking services and
can advantage of that identity.
Unauthorised use of Services
It has become very easy to use services through IT but in this it is also possible that people can
use services of others which they are not authorized for. For example- ATM uses requires
knowledge of PIN and card and if anyone has that information then in such case they can use
that information and take undue advantage of that information.
Hacking
This refers to bypass security and get unauthorized access to a system and information of
Royal Bank of Scotland (Bledsoe, 2017). This can be practices because of various reasons
which are damaging information, get information for personal means, exploit information and
making changes in the information.
Identification and Differentiation of Networking Technologies
According to Jyothi and Reddy, 2018 networking technology refers to technologies which
allows exchange of information between small and large systems in electronic formats. These
technologies are mainly used by businesses and institutions so that they can exchange
information without any trouble and delay.
Main types of networking technologies are-
 PAN (Private area network)
 LAN (Local area network)
 WAN (Wide area network)
 EPN (Enterprise Private network)
 VPN (Virtual private network)

Identification and Differentiation of these is as follows-
Basis PAN LAN WAN EPN VPN
Area Personal
computer and
is connected
within a
building and
in limited
area.
Computer
networks
consist at
single site. In
a office
building.
In these
computers can
be connected
across a
longer
distance. In
this computer
and low
voltage
devices can be
connected
even when
they are miles
apart.
This network
is built and
owned by
business
enterprise so
that they can
securely
connect its
various
locations to
share
computer
resources.
In this private
networks are
extended over
internet and
users can
share and
receive and
information as
their devices
are connected
with private
network.
Application Individuals
can use this
network.
This networks
are used by
businesses
which are
working in
single
building only.
Internet is this
type of
network
which is used
by everyone
and Royal
Bank of
Scotland can
connect with
its customers
through this
network.
This is
developed by
Royal Bank of
Scotland so
that they can
share
information
and electronic
across its
various
locations.
This is also
used by Royal
Bank of
Scotland. This
allows
customers of
bank to
receive and
share
information of
their bank in
case they are

not connected
with the
network of
bank.
These were mostly used networking technology but these are not the only networking
technology there are few more types of technology which are-
 Wireless Local area network in this wireless technology is used to connect within a
local and small area (Chan and et.al., 2018). This is extended form of PAN and LAN in
this systems can be connected through wireless network.
 Campus area network, in this all computers in a campus are connected with each
other.
 Metropolitan area network, in these systems and computers are connected throughout
a city and town and are larger than LAN's and smaller than WAN's.
Networking technology which is used by Royal Bank of Scotland are LAN, WAN, EPN and
VPN.
Importance of Intranet and Internet in Royal Bank of Scotland
As per the view of Kwak, Yoo and Lee, 2018 Internet is a wide area network which connect
all the computer across the globe. It includes high bandwidth data lines which comprise
Internet. These lines of Internet are connected with distributors of Internet and Networking
companies which distribute data to other locations.
According to Solanki and Khatarkar, 2019 Intranet is private network and to get access of that
Intranet authorization is required. Intra refers to internal and which is why is designed for
internal communication.
Importance of internet and intranet for Royal Bank of Scotland are as follows-
Intranet
 Bank Intranet is a very important tool for banks which is used to staff better
collaborate, engage and involve staff. This helps bank in promoting its culture and

values on its staff. This tool also helps employees to get tools which are required to
perform effectively.
 Through intranet employees can get all the required information for their work.
 Sharing of information through intranet becomes easy and secure.
 It contributes in better collaboration among employees and specially when they are
working to achieve same objectives or working on any single project.
 Intranet also provide the bank a secured and assessing and developing electronic
material of Royal Bank of Scotland.
Internet
 Through internet bank can promote itself on various platforms like social media this
will increase profit and customers of Royal Bank of Scotland.
 Internet make it easy for Royal Bank of Scotland to research market.
 Internet allows various system through which bank can operate its function easily.
 Internet banking of the bank is also operated with internet.
 Services like email provide chances to bank so that they can communicate with each
other and along with that communicate with people who are outside the bank.
 Through internet Royal Bank of Scotland can tack its performance and growth.
 Internet provides automation and which leads to reduces requirement for manpower.
 Using internet it becomes easy for customers to interact with Royal Bank of Scotland
and bank is able to manage its relationship with customers.
Stages of System Development Life Cycle
System Development Life Cycle refers to a model of project management. This life cycle
includes stages of a project from its inception to the completion of the project.
Stages of System Development Life Cycle
System Planning
This stage of the cycle includes identification of the problem and deciding what is
exact problem business is trying to solve (Egwoh and Nonyelum, 2017). This includes
deciding problem, objective of the system development, resources which will be required in
system development like cost and personnel. Other activity which is included in this stage is

ability of proposing alternative solutions, studying how business can make its product better
than its competitors.
System Analysis
This requires analysis of end user's requirements and what are the expectations from
the system and determination of how the system will perform. This also includes a study for
feasibility which attempts to determine whether the system is organizationally, economically,
socially and technologically feasible.
System Design
This stage comes after the developers have good understanding of customers' requirements.
This stage involves defining elements of a system, components and security level of system
etc.
Implementation and Deployment
In this after understanding all the requirements of system and having a illustrated design for
the system this includes actual construction process (Singletary and Baker, 2019). In this stage
the system gets ready to deploy at the premises, ready to work and live and productive. In this
stage users may require training ng for the use of system.
System testing and Integration
In this stage all the subsystems are brought together to create a whole integrated system. Then
by putting different inputs output of the system is analysed along with its behaviour and the
way system functions.
System Maintenance
This includes periodic maintenance of the system in order to ensure that it does not become
obsolete (Egwoh and Nonyelum, 2017). This includes replacing old elements of the system
with new and updated elements.
CONCLUSION
This report includes various technical terms in which the beginning of this discussion
included identification of role of information technology in Royal Bank of Scotland. There are
various ethical and social issues which are related with using IT. Important issues are related
to data. Later this report included identification and differentiation of different networking

technologies. Importance of intranet and internet were also discussed in this report. Both
internet and intranet are important as they provide easy access to information and through this
sharing of information also becomes easy within organisation and outside it. Lastly, stages of
system development life cycle were discussed in this report.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alshubaily, N. F. and Altameem, A. A., 2017. The Role of Strategic Information Systems
(SIS) in Supporting and Achieving the Competitive Advantages (CA): An Empirical
Study on Saudi Banking Sector. Int. J. Adv. Comput. Sci. Apllocations. 8(7). pp.128-
139.
Askoul, R., Khan, H. U. and Lalitha, V. M., 2016. Cross-functional integration of marketing
and information services in banking: a cross-industry comparison. International
Journal of Process Management and Benchmarking. 6(1). pp.57-78.
Bledsoe, M. J., 2017. Ethical legal and social issues of biobanking: past, present, and future.
Biopreservation and biobanking. 15(2). pp.142-147.
Chan, V.W and et.al., 2018. Communications and networking.
Egwoh, A. Y. and Nonyelum, O. F., 2017. A Software System Development Life Cycle Model
For Improved Students’ Communication And Collaboration. International Journal of
Computer Science & Engineering Survey. 8(4). pp.1-10.
Jyothi, K. K. and Reddy, B., 2018. Study on virtual private network (VPN), VPN’s protocols
and security. International Journal of Scientific Research in Computer Science,
Engineering and Information Technology. 3(5). pp.919-932.
Kwak, N. Y., Yoo, H. and Lee, C. C., 2018. Study on factors affecting financial customer's
switching intention to internet only bank: focus on Kakao bank. Journal of Digital
Convergence. 16(2). pp.157-167.
Sargolzaei, E. and Nikbakht, M., 2017. The Ethical and Social Issues of Information
Technology: A Case Study. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science
and Applications. 8(10). pp.138-146.
Singletary, V. and Baker, E. L., 2019. Building Informatics-Savvy Health Departments: The
Systems Development Life Cycle. Journal of Public Health Management and
Practice. 25(6). pp.610-611.
Solanki, P.S. and Khatarkar, P.R., 2019. Intranet System: A Solution for Interaction,
Transformation and Submission the Information. International Journal of Applied
Research on Information Technology and Computing. 10(2). pp.59-66.
Online
What is System Development Life Cycle? 2020. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://airbrake.io/blog/sdlc/what-is-system-development-life-cycle>.
Stéphane Bourgeois. 2016. 11 Types of Networks Explained: VPN, LAN & More. [Online].
Available Through: <https://www.belden.com/blog/smart-building/network-types>.