70% of Banks Report Technology Infrastructure Spend to Increase in 2025

The time to modernize is now

Banks that delay modernization risk falling behind both peers and other institutions that have more fully embraced innovation and deliver customer-first experiences across multiple channels. But many large financial institutions are hampered by their reliance on legacy technology. While those systems still have a lot of value to offer, banks need adaptable systems that ensure they can scale innovation across complex, often fragmented infrastructure, and integrate AI, enabling real-time services, and deliver consistent omni-channel experiences.

What the research shows

New findings from What Today’s Customers Want — And How Digital-ready Banks Deliver, a survey by TechStudio™, an Energize Marketing® company, in partnership with FIS®, show that banks are striving to accommodate customers who want digital first convenience while still valuing the human service they have come to associate with banking. And they’re putting budgets behind those efforts with expenditures on digital self service solutions expected to top $10 billion by 2027, representing an annual growth rate of 12 percent.

Most, too, are firmly in the cloud with 42 percent operating more than three-quarters of their infrastructure in the cloud. And that will grow going forward—seven in ten will amp up their investment in infrastructure spend in 2025.

But while cloud transformation remains foundational to digital agility, very few are very far along in their transformation journeys. 

"The desire to create consistency between the digital and physical world remains a constant balancing act as customer expectations change and technology evolves.” — Marc DeCastro, Research Director, Consumer Banking, IDC

While investing in technology is crucial, it is not sufficient for maintaining relevance in rapidly changing banking market. Competitiveness and winning customer loyalty requires "humanized" banking, which can be overshadowed as banks become preoccupied with getting the tech right as they modernize. Digitization plays a central role in that humanization if banks successfully bridge digital capabilities with empathetic, personalized experiences.

📊 By the Numbers: Global Modern Banking Today

• $10 billion expected spend on digital self service solutions by 2027
  
  

• 12% annual expected growth rate for spending on digital self service solutions

• 70% plan to increase tech infrastructure spend in 2025 

• 42% operate more than three-quarters of their infrastructure in the cloud 
  

Banks that invest in a digital future and move forward with purpose, grounded in customer needs and business goals, are likely better positioned to build loyalty and drive growth.

 👉 To explore all findings, download the full What Today’s Customers Want — And How Digital-ready Banks Deliver eBook (fielded in April 2025).