BIAN Explained: The Banking Industry Reference Model
BIAN provides reference descriptions for banking services. Using them starts with a comparison against your activities, applications and their owners.
Updated on
A reference for banking services
The Banking Industry Architecture Network, BIAN, publishes reference models for banking architecture. Its Service Landscape organises Service Domains, each describing a bounded business function. The BIAN portal provides access to their descriptions and other model elements.
A bank can use these terms to compare its internal descriptions and work with suppliers. Business owners need to examine the mappings: two objects with the same name may cover different responsibilities.
Service Domain, capability and application
A BIAN Service Domain belongs to the industry reference model. A bank’s capability describes what it can do; its process describes the activities performed; an application provides services supporting them. Mapping these objects requires an assessment of their scope.
One application may support several domains. Several applications may cover one domain. Explicit relationships help the team examine partial coverage, overlap or a dependency before deciding on a change.
An initial mapping for lending
A bank is preparing an online lending request. The team describes the activities, responsibilities and data exchanges in that journey. It then selects BIAN domains whose descriptions correspond to the scope being assessed.
For each mapping, the assessment records the reference domain, internal object, reasoning, validation owner and differences found. Interfaces still require detailed review of data, rules, errors and service commitments. A domain name alone does not establish compatibility.
Working with the reference in ArchiLU
In ArchiLU, capabilities, processes and applications share the same repository. Teams can start from an industry reference, then document their organisation’s objects and relationships. The request and architecture document reuse the affected elements.
The business owner confirms the capability’s scope; application owners describe the services used. The architect retains the proposed mappings and unresolved questions. A BIAN reference informs this work; the organisation remains responsible for decisions to change applications.
Versions and the scope of a mapping
The Service Landscape changes over time. A mapping should identify the version consulted, the review date and the affected objects. When a domain changes, the team assesses the effect on its mappings before updating the repository.
The map documents correspondences with BIAN domains. It does not attest to BIAN certification or regulatory compliance. Obligations, controls and evidence need assessment within their own scope.
In ArchiLU
Frequently asked questions
- What is the BIAN Service Landscape used for?
- It organises BIAN Service Domains in a reference structure. A banking team uses it to find domains relevant to an assessment and compare their scope with its internal objects.
- Should a bank replace its capability map?
- Start with a mapping exercise. Owners examine matches and differences before deciding whether to change the internal map. The bank’s object identities and responsibilities remain explicit.
- Does one BIAN domain correspond to one application?
- The relationship depends on the scope covered. One application can support several domains, and several applications can contribute to the same domain. These relationships need documenting.