In-house is a term widely used in the world of payment systems. It means that payment systems applications are managed end-to-end within the bank's own system, both in terms of code and process.
The structures referred to as payment systems are:
- Credit card
- Merchant & POS
- Debit card
- ATM systems.
For example, having the credit card system be in-house means that:
- Credit card application
- Credit card allocation
- Card production
- Courier & distribution
- Card authorization
- In-cycle and statement management
- Clearing & chargeback
- The fraud system must be managed by the bank, and improvements to the system as well as regulatory requirements must also be developed by the bank.
Managing a system in-house is not as easy a job as it may seem. Expertise in payment systems is very different from expertise in other banking domains. Each area of expertise requires different and detailed knowledge in its own right.
For in-house management, it is very important for the bank to have expert analysts and developers in its own organization. (It is particularly important to have teams that are experts in authorization, card production, clearing, statements, and fraud management.)
