Stop 13 · BA Domain SpecializationsTopics · 4/7

Financial / Banking BA

In short

Banks run on rules: RBI guidelines, KYC, anti-money laundering checks and audits. A banking BA turns those rules into systems where every rupee is traceable and nothing slips past.

A domain-specific track requiring understanding of financial products, regulatory requirements, and banking-specific systems — heavy documentation rigor (Phase 3) is especially valued in this regulated industry.

The purple blob stamps a stack of papers at a bank counter next to coin piles and a vault door.

Think of it like this

The bank counter clerk

At the cash counter, every withdrawal slip is checked, stamped, entered and signed by a second officer for big amounts. It feels slow, but nobody loses track of money. Banking BAs design software with that same discipline built in.

Watch it happen

Maker-checker for a large transfer

Maker

Core banking

Checker

Audit log

Transfer above limit

1/5An officer enters a large corporate transfer. It's above the single-approval limit.

The big ideas

What you need to know

Domain knowledge

Learn the products: savings, loans, cards, payments, trade finance. You can't question a requirement you don't understand.

Regulation shapes everything

KYC, AML and regulator rules turn into hard requirements. Missing one can mean penalties, not just bugs.

Documentation rigour

Detailed specs, traceability and audit trails are expected. Auditors may ask why a rule exists, years later.

Controls like maker-checker

Sensitive actions need two people. You'll write these controls into requirements, along with limits and alerts.

See it in code

Walk through the code

gherkin

1Feature: Maker-checker for large transfers2  Scenario: Maker cannot approve own transfer3    Given officer "A" created a transfer above the limit4    When officer "A" tries to approve it5    Then the approval is blocked6    And the attempt is written to the audit log

1/3The feature and the specific rule being tested.

A control requirement written as a testable scenario. The limit value itself comes from the bank's policy, not from the BA.

Save yourself the pain

Common mistakes

Oops

Treating compliance rules as 'nice to have' to save time.

Do this instead

Mark regulatory requirements as mandatory and trace each one to its source rule or circular.

Oops

Guessing what a financial term means.

Do this instead

Ask, and build a glossary. Words like 'settlement' and 'clearing' have precise meanings.

Your mission

Document a KYC flow

~35 min

Quick check

Why do banking systems often use maker-checker for large transactions?

Go deeper

1Read about common financial/banking BA responsibilities and regulatory context (e.g. compliance requirements).
2Learn why documentation rigor (RTMs, formal sign-off) tends to matter more in regulated industries.
3Consider this track if you have or want to build financial industry domain knowledge.