I haven't forgotten my entry in to IT - it was on a managed services team working directly with cisco routers as a jr. network engineer. I got my A+, MCP, and CCNA over a year and a half of cramming doing other work(carpentry) before I started shooting out my resume. I was underpaid for the work, when I first started, but it was better than inhaling saw dust and paint thinner all day.

Knowledge in banking is huge, as there's A LOT of money in the IT field in the finance industry. With a few certs, and a background in banking you'd be a shoe in for an entry level position at a lot of places.. like banks! On top of there being a lot of money in IT, there's a lot of banks everywhere. There's also a lot of IT businesses that support banks. Depending on your location, this can range from anything from call centers in larger areas to managing an email server, and a small network. If he currently is a good performer at the bank, he'll receive extra consideration as well if he can find an opening through the company he's at.

If you're capable of teaching yourself and being vigilant at doing it regularly, it's not all that hard to get into IT. Which..is the part that's not easy. I haven't been able to bring myself to do it 8 years after getting my first IT job.