All that no-sql and web-frameworks propaganda has ruined database programming!

Two recent online transactions have questioned my faith in Indian programmers.

Bank credits account before cheque is cleared or issuing bank honours cheque and then reverses

I deposited a cheque in a bank using a pay-in slip. The bank credited the amount in the pay-in account even before the amount was released by the issuing bank. The cheque was returned (technical rejection) and was presented again for clearing. The credited amount was then deducted from the account. On the second presentation, the cheque was cleared and the amount credited again. Why did the bank credit the amount even before receiving it from the issuing bank? It is unlikely that the issuing bank reversed the transaction after releasing the funds.

State-owned bank hires leading private software company to design an unbelievably kludgy share-trading service

This government bank has an online share trading service. When I have to buy some shares, it makes me jump through several hoops. Steps that should have been internalized have been made part of the user-initiated process. It reminded me of Android programming.

1. I click on BUY button and it asks me to create a hold for the required cash in my saving account.
2. I click the HOLD button. It asks me to confirm the hold.
3. I click the CONFIRM button. It asks me to modify the order with the hold in place.
4. I click the MODIFY ORDER button. The sites sends the order but the order popup continues to float over the page.
5. I click the CLOSE button.

After selling some shares, the payout remains in my trading account. On the first time, I sold shares, I got anxious as the money did not seem to come to my bank account. I had to navigate through the menu and then click on a REQUEST PAYOUT option get the money back.

ICICIDirect is not like this state bank. I click on BUY. If there is not enough money in my trading account, it asks me to add the required amount from my account. After I click the ADD button, the trade is sent to the exchange. When I sell a share, the proceeds are automatically credited to my savings account. They don't waste my time. This is how their service has been since day one. (I became their customer when they started the service in the late 90s or early 20-zeroes. That was when ICICI Bank came out of ICICI, which was then a state institution. ICICI later demerged into ICICI Bank and became a majority-foreign-owned firm. Back then, IDBI and ICICI dominated institutional lending. When the rupee devalued and interest rates rose to their highest, I made my father to invest in 14% IDBI bonds. Money could be doubled in five years. Those were the days …)

A banker wrote a column many years ago on bank automation. When a private bank computerised their operations, they eliminated a lot of redundancies and implemented the processes in the most efficient way possible. When a government bank automated its processes, they just added the computers but the number of steps and the humans the remained the same.

You might think that state bank's sarkari_ way of doing things is typical of them. However, I think the state bank is not to blame. They gave the contract to a top Indian software company (TCS) in the hope that they will get a well-designed system. The fault is most likely with the software company. They have used giant web frameworks to create its kludgy interface. Menus and options often get hidden and become inaccessible. The popups and floats become unresponsive. It is a mess.

The ICICI's banking site used to run on Infosys software but the web trading service was designed by a different company using Classic ASP. I think it was called Financial Technologies or something. Their interface was fine for that time. They moved to ASP.NET and things started falling apart. They did another redesign and it has improved considerably. It continues to be slowed down with giant Javascript packages and tracking code from Google and Whatsapp.

There are morons who claim that privatization as the panacea for everything. These two examples prove otherwise. The private bank had a good system and they ruined it. The government bank asked for a good system and a private software company ruined it.