Practice Test Geeks(FIA) Financial Information Associate Certification Practice Test
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Financial Technology & Systems Flashcards

7 cards from real FIA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

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  1. In financial systems, what is the primary function of a 'reconciliation' process?

    Answer: To compare records from two or more sources to identify and resolve discrepancies

    Reconciliation compares records across different systems (e.g., broker vs. custodian) to ensure they agree and to investigate any breaks.

  2. What is the T+2 settlement standard in US equity markets?

    Answer: The final exchange of securities and cash occurs 2 business days after trade date

    T+2 means the actual transfer of securities and payment is completed two business days after the trade is executed.

  3. Which type of database architecture is most commonly used by financial institutions for high-volume transaction processing systems?

    Answer: Relational databases with ACID compliance

    Relational databases with ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) properties are preferred for financial transactions because they guarantee data integrity.

  4. In the context of financial technology, what does 'API-first' architecture mean?

    Answer: Designing systems so that all functionality is accessible via APIs from the outset

    API-first means designing and building APIs before other components so that all functionality can be consumed programmatically by any client.

  5. What is 'tokenization' in the context of payment security?

    Answer: Replacing sensitive card data with a non-sensitive substitute value

    Payment tokenization replaces sensitive card numbers with a unique token, so merchants never store actual card data, reducing breach risk.

  6. Which of the following best describes 'cloud bursting' in financial IT infrastructure?

    Answer: Using public cloud resources to handle traffic spikes beyond on-premise capacity

    Cloud bursting allows financial firms to scale into public cloud resources during peak demand periods while keeping baseline workloads on-premise.

  7. What is the main purpose of a 'data lake' in financial services analytics?

    Answer: To store large volumes of raw data in native format until needed for analysis

    A data lake stores vast amounts of raw, unstructured, and structured data at scale, allowing analysts to process and query it as needed.

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  1. fisd.net — Test delivery, eligibility, fees, exam format, passing score, renewal, retake fee, retake policy, score release, test dates · verified Oct 2026