What you describe isn't restricted to banking. I've never worked in the banking sector, but every software engineering position I've had at a company that wasn'

What you describe isn't restricted to banking. I've never worked in the banking sector, but every software engineering position I've had at a company that wasn't a technology (and specifically a software-driven technology) company was in "the IT department." And "the IT department", even in places where IT has a huge impact on the orderly operation of the business, in my experience has been treated like a necessary evil (at best). I will never work in such a department again because of the shit-tastic experiences I've had in them. Also your description of IT management in these places as merely spineless is far too charitable, in my opinion. Words that come to my mind are "incompetent, hypocritical, dishonest, creature of corporate politics."