60% of Banks Report Technology Investments Resulted in Greater Collaboration Across Enterprise

Faced with disharmony across the money lifecycle fueled in part by fraud, cyberthreats, and regulatory complexity, financial institutions understand technology modernization is no longer optional. It is mandatory if they want to mitigate risk, become more agile and accelerate innovation to meet customer demand for digital services in a highly competitive environment.  👉Read the full report 

Many banks still rely on legacy technology. And while there is still more value to eke out of those tried and true systems, even well-established institutions that don’t modernization across core platforms, payments infrastructure, cybersecurity, data management, regulatory reporting, and customer engagement can fall dangerously behind their more agile competitors, according to The New Risk Reality: How Financial Institutions Can Thrive If They Modernize survey by TechStudio^TM, an Energize Marketing^® company, in partnership with FIS^®.  The study found that the risk from failure to modernize can be costly—enterprises are losing nearly $100 million yearly from gaps across the money lifecycle with cyberthreats and fraud accounting for more than $53 million in combined annual losses across financial services and fintech organizations.

The findings stress the importance of financial institutions understanding risk then modernizing around it to build resilience, transparency and operational speed. For instance, just over one-third (35 percent) of fintech respondents rank cyberthreats as the top concern (35 percent) while 24% of technology and big tech respondents cite fraud. They understand that cyberattacks can cause more than just operational disruption—in fact, the threat to customer trust, regulatory compliance and market reputation can quickly turn into a long-lasting nightmare for institutions at a time when they must be at the top of their game to compete.

While respondents say some fintech data protection solutions fail to meet the threats posed by cybersecurity issues and fraud. But there is good news, as well. Three in five said that their tech investments resulted in improved collaboration across the enterprise while half said investing in financial technology had landed them more customers. 

"Your modernization strategy must address these core-to-channel connections if you wish to create a highly personalized experience for each customer." – Melissa Cullen, Head of Strategy, FIS

Those organizations using core processing systems cited three primary goals that they believe will strengthen their competitiveness, security and customer relationships—staying ahead of marketing trends (46 percent), strengthening cybersecurity and ensuring regulatory compliance (44 percent), and deepening customer relationships by improving overall experience.

📊 By the Numbers: Digital Banking Transformation in Retail Banking

• 100 million amount enterprises lose annually to gaps across the money lifecycle
  
  

• 46% want to enhance competitiveness by staying ahead of market trends

• 44% depend on core processing systems to strengthen cybersecurity and compliance

• 42% aim to deepen customer relationships by improving overall experience
  
  

• 35% of fintech respondents rank cyberthreats as top concern

Financial institutions that understand modernization is not a one-time initiative but is a  continuous, strategic effort to reduce risk, prevent fraud, strengthen compliance, and deliver better experiences for both customers and employees, will be poised to lead and thrive in the digital economy.

 👉 To explore all findings, download the full The New Risk Reality: How Financial Institutions Can Thrive If They Modernize report (fielded in April 2025).