Financial data can be stored as DECIMAL(p,s)
where p is the number of significant digits, and s is the scale (number of places to the right of the decimal point). See The MySQL documentation.
Also from O'Reilly's High Performance MySQL, chapter 3:
"...you should use DECIMAL only when you need exact results for
fractional numbers--for example, when storing financial data."
From O'Reilly's Learning MySQL:
DECIMAL
is, "...A commonly used numeric type. Stores a fixed-point
number such as a salary or distance..."
And MySQL Pocket Reference:
DECIMAL
"...Stores floating-point numbers where precision is
critical, such as for monetary values."