The introduction of punched-card technology in 1947 marked a turning point in data processing for Switzerland’s major banks – particularly Union Bank of Switzerland, Swiss Bank Corporation and Swiss Credit Institution. Originally developed for the US Census, punched cards enabled the automation of large volumes of data and gradually replaced account ledgers that had been maintained by hand or with typewriters. Machine-readable punched cards made booking transactions and account management faster, more accurate and more reliable.
The first punched-card installations consisted of mechanical machines such as punching, sorting, collating, card-reading and tabulating machines. Many work steps, including removing and inserting punched cards or executing calculations (programs), were still carried out manually and sequentially. The central component was the tabulating machine: it could read, sort, add, subtract and generate subtotals from data. It was controlled through a hard-wired plugboard, unlike a computer, which is freely programmable and equipped with electronic memory.
Punched cards enabled the structured calculation and analysis of large datasets, particularly for routine tasks involving securities, coupons and current accounts. Their introduction also created new professions, such as maintenance technicians and data typists, leading to lasting changes within centralized processing departments. As a result, the punched-card department evolved into a center of technological progress within the banking industry.