3 (and a Half) Things Worth Spending on as Banks’ IT Budgets Climb – BizTech Magazine

2. Banks Must Improve Customer Experiences to Meet Expectations

Customers are now willing to share personal data with banks if financial firms can offer clear value in exchange. By and large, this value takes the form of highly personalized services that treat clients as valued assets.

As a result, its critical for banks to spend some of their burgeoning IT budgets on the tools and technologies required to improve the customer experience. From better mobile application design and delivery to the use of machine learning and robotic process automation solutions that help reduce corporate reliance on manually intensive tasks, banks can capture a dual benefit from this type of investment: Customers are happier and more likely to stay, while IT teams already grappling with staffing shortages can better focus on line-of-business objectives.

Sixty-one percent of banks now report that they are highly reliant on managed services and outsourcing to help bolster IT expertise. It makes sense: 52 percent of financial firms say theyre not effectively using the data they have, and 31 percent are concerned about their reliance on outdated technology.

To help address these issues, its smart for banks to double down on managed services spending. In practice, this means finding providers that have both technical and financial expertise. For example, the unique position of banks across compliance regulations such as the California Consumer Privacy Act, General Data Protection Regulation, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard and others necessitates the use of managed services that offer cutting-edge technology backed by regulatory expertise.

EXPLORE: Learn more about the state of the cloud transition in financial services.

No matter what type of technology spending banks take on, effective security is paramount. Thats why it takes the and a half spot on our list its a critical addition to any technology adoption.

Theres no single way to secure key banking tools and technologies; instead, security must be baked into every IT approach that banks take, and budgets must always reflect at least some room for security.

When it comes to cloud computing, for example, banks are well served by spending on security tools that enhance end-to-end visibility. For customer-facing applications and services, solutions such as zero-trust access can reduce total risk, and for managed services,

Bank IT budgets are on the rise. To make the most of this new money, financial firms can invest in the cloud, customers, managed services and security to help lower risk and boost ROI.

This article is part ofBizTech'sEquITy blog series. Please join the discussion on Twitter by using the#FinanceTechhashtag.

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3 (and a Half) Things Worth Spending on as Banks' IT Budgets Climb - BizTech Magazine