92% of Banks Are Concerned About Current Levels of Legacy Systems and Technical Debt

A pair of trends are reshaping financial services. All surveyed banks have implemented cloud operations, though maturity levels vary, and a majority will spend more on technology infrastructure this year as they strive to deliver seamless, mobile first experiences. 👉Read the full report 

Leaders want speed, security, and compliance without full core overhauls. Modular modernization lets banks add capabilities with less disruption while addressing legacy constraints and rising customer expectations.

User convenience, improved compliance reporting, artificial intelligence (AI) and modernization, top their lists of priorities for the next 12-24 months, according to The 2025 Global State of Business Banking survey conducted in April 2025 by TechStudio^TM, an Energize Marketing^® company, in partnership with FIS^®. The study found that many banks are taking a modular approach to transformation, building on what already works rather than doing a complete overhaul.

That’s not surprising, considering almost all respondents feel burdened by tech debt—92 percent says their current level of legacy systems give them pause with 43% claiming to be very concerned. Modular solutions offer them an opportunity to get greater agility without the disruption of a soup-to-nuts transformation. In fact, the survey results indicate a trend toward continuous transformation as a multi-year journey and a framework for the future.

“AI systems will proactively monitor transactions, identifying and blocking suspicious activity
before it can impact customers or financial institutions.” – Commercial Banking Relationship
Manager, Commercial Bank, Indonesia 

They are very clearly planning to invest in real-time payments—97% are either very likely or somewhat likely to introduce real-time payment solutions this year. But there is a disconnect, since not one has actually implemented such a solution.

AI, too, has quickly become a priority and the research results indicated it will become a centerpiece of business banking going forward. More than half (54%) of banking leaders in North America say they will implement Generative AI solutions this year while slightly fewer (49%) of leaders overseas say the same. A wide variety of use cases have piqued their interest—from enhancing fraud detection to enabling more intelligent onboarding and customer education.

But even the best laid plans face challenges with lack of technology (60 percent) most often citrd followed by distrust of cloud native platforms.

📊 By the Numbers: Business Banking Transformation

• 92% are concerned about level of legacy system and technical debt

• 100% agree cloud is foundational

• 59% run a majority of their operations and technology in the cloud
  
  

• 48% are very likely to implement real-time payment in 2025

Organizations best-positioned to succeed understand the future of business banking is built on action—and those that invest now in flexible, intelligent platforms will likely attract business customers as well as bolster relationships and lead the way in a real-time, digital first economy.

👉 To explore all findings, download the full  2025 Global State of Business Banking report (fielded in April 2025).