Bank Directors Challenged by Industry’s Technology Advancements
BRENTWOOD, TENN., August 26, 2014 – Bank boards and senior executives express a desire to better understand how to make the bank more efficient and improve the customer experience by leveraging technology, according to Bank Director’s 2014 Growth Strategy Survey, sponsored by technology solutions provider CDW. Eighty-four percent of respondents say that today’s highly competitive environment is their greatest challenge when it comes to growing the bank, and yet despite the threat posed by more innovative challengers from outside the banking industry, less than one-third discuss technology at every board meeting.
One-quarter say their IT staff lacks the resources to support the bank’s growth plans and current operations, and many cite a need for additional or more highly trained staff. And in an industry highly dependent on the expertise of third-party vendors, half reveal that the bank’s core processor is slow to respond to innovations.
More than 145 senior executives and independent directors of banks nationwide responded to the survey, which was conducted in June and early July.
Key findings include:
- Bank boards may not devote enough time to technology. Just 30 percent say that their board discusses technology at every regular board meeting. The majority of respondents, at 47 percent, talk about technology quarterly, and almost 20 percent only talk about the issue at the bank’s strategic planning session, which is typically held annually.
- Big banks are better users of data. Forty percent of respondents overall use business intelligence tools and analytics within their organization, but more than three-quarters of banks over $5 billion in assets currently use data to support growth goals. Less than half of banks employ a data administrator, a role more commonly found at larger institutions.
- Core processors may be slow to innovate. Community banks typically depend on vendors for their technological expertise, but one-third of bank directors and officers feel that their core processor impedes their ability to innovate, and half say that their core processor is slow to respond to innovations.
- Eighty-three percent worry about nonbank competitors, particularly credit unions and unregulated lenders. Banks above $5 billion in assets reveal a heightened concern about PayPal and Amazon.
Full survey results are available online at BankDirector.com, and will be featured in the 4th quarter 2014 issue of Bank Director magazine.
ABOUT BANK DIRECTOR
Since 1991, Bank Director has served as a leading information resource for the directors and officers of financial institutions. Through its quarterly Bank Director magazine, executive-level research, annual conferences, and its website, BankDirector.com, Bank Director reaches the leaders of the institutions that comprise America’s banking industry. Bank Director is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Source: BankDirector.com
Contact: Emily McCormick, director of research, (615) 777-8471, [email protected]