What does it mean to work on IT banking projects?: impact, challenges, and skills to develop

Banking has always been synonymous with trust and stability. But behind every transaction we make as customers—from paying by card to checking our balance on an app—lies an enormously complex technological framework. Millions of transactions per minute, legacy systems coexisting with new cloud architectures, and, above all, a level of security that allows for no failures.

For an IT professional, working on banking projects means entering an ecosystem where technology has a direct impact on people’s lives and on the global economy. It is a demanding environment, but it is also one of those that most drives professional growth: the prestige of having worked in banking is a hallmark that opens many doors.

In this article we will explore what types of projects exist in the sector, what skills are most in demand, how compliance and security play a role, and what career paths you can build if you decide to specialise in this area.

Types of projects in banking

The financial sector is in the midst of a digital transformation. While some systems are still based on legacy technologies, more and more banks are moving towards cloud architectures, agile models and user-centric digital experiences. Some of the most common projects include:

Core banking: the heart of the financial system

Core banking is the system that manages basic products and services: current accounts, mortgages, loans, investments, etc. Modernising this core is one of the sector’s greatest challenges, because it involves migrating critical environments with no margin for error. The professionals involved in these projects work with microservices architectures, transactional databases and cloud deployments.

Digital payments: speed and confidence

Money hardly moves in cash any more. Instant payments, wallets, international transfers and payment gateways must be executed in seconds, without compromising security. In these projects, technologies such as open APIs, advanced encryption and real-time monitoring are essential.

Integration and open banking

The European PSD2 directive obliges banks to open their systems to third parties (fintechs, startups, savings apps, etc.). This means designing secure and scalable APIs that allow real-time integration. Open banking projects are a space for continuous innovation, where backend, cloud and security profiles work side by side.

Customer experience: the visible face

Most users interact with banking through mobile apps or web platforms. Here the challenges are different: to offer an intuitive, accessible and robust design, capable of withstanding huge traffic peaks. Front and full stack developers, together with UX/UI specialists, make the difference in this area.

Most demanded technical skills

Joining a banking project requires mastering a broad and up-to-date stack. Some of the most valued skills are:

• Programming languages: Java and Python in backend; JavaScript/TypeScript with frameworks such as React or Angular in frontend; Node.js in full stack environments.
• Cloud computing: Azure, AWS or Google Cloud are increasingly present in migrations from on-premise systems.
• Modern architecture: microservices, containers (Docker, Kubernetes) and scalability patterns.
• Automation and CI/CD: tools such as Jenkins, GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps for continuous and error-free deployment.
• Databases: SQL in critical transactional environments and NoSQL (MongoDB, PostgreSQL) for flexible and scalable services.
• Data and artificial intelligence: from fraud detection to credit scoring algorithms, Python and machine learning have become indispensable.

The interesting thing is that these skills are not only valuable in banking: they make you highly employable in any large technology corporation.

Compliance and security: the most critical challenge

Banking is one of the most regulated sectors in the world. Regulatory compliance and cybersecurity are mandatory.

Some of the regulations and standards that mark the daily work in financial projects are: PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), which defines requirements for the protection of payment card data; PSD2 (Payment Services Directive), which regulates strong authentication and the opening of APIs to third parties; GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), which establishes obligations on the protection of personal data; and ISO/IEC 27001, the reference standard for information security management systems.

In addition, banks work with business continuity plans (BCP) and disaster recovery plans (DRP) to ensure that, in the event of any incident, the system can continue to operate or recover quickly.

Working in this environment forces you to think about resilience, redundancy and prevention, which gives you knowledge applicable to any critical sector (energy, health, public administration…).

Career paths you can build

Few sectors offer as much exposure as banking. Those who work in financial projects tend to stand out on their CVs for a number of reasons:

• Technical expertise: cloud banking, financial security, digital payments… are highly valued labels.
• International visibility: many banks operate in different countries, allowing them to collaborate in distributed teams and gain multicultural experience.
• Technical leadership: it is common for profiles that start as developers to evolve to architect or tech lead roles within a few years.
• Professional prestige: having worked in banking is a stamp of confidence that increases your employability in other sectors.

In other words: you enter a demanding environment, but you leave with a much stronger and more competitive profile.

How to enter into banking projects

What are financial institutions and the consultancy firms that work with them looking for?

• Specialised technical profiles: full stack with React or Angular, cloud and DevOps experts, data scientists or machine learning engineers, cybersecurity consultants.
• Differentiating soft skills: clear communication, teamwork skills, professional English and a continuous learning mentality.
• Availability for hybrid models: the most common today in banking is to combine 3 days of teleworking with 2 days in the office.

At Pasiona, for example, we collaborate with large corporations in the financial sector, offering our teams contractual stability, close support and training in the technologies most in demand.

Conclusion

Working on banking projects is synonymous with impact, learning and growth. It means facing critical systems where security and efficiency are mandatory, but also entering a sector that boosts your career and opens doors in the entire IT market.

If you want to make the leap to digital banking projects, now is the time to do it.