Focus on Innovation Drives Commercial Banking Growth

The stakes are high for finance leaders as they survey the balance of 2023. The pandemic’s most dangerous days look to be over and fears now center around the double-whammy of inflation and a potential recession. Outside of macro issues the table is set for change. The FedNow faster payments service will launch in July bringing increased awareness and usage of the ISO 20022 messaging format. Open banking – which has gained substantial traction in the UK – is starting to see early usage in the US. And as always banks are expected to get, keep and grow their customer base at all costs.

So there’s substantial change in the wind. But here’s the problem: Banks don’t seem to be as prepared as they should be with so much at stake. CANAM Research partnered with Bottomline to sense check various issues under the heading of payments modernization and found concerning evidence that legacy infrastructure combined with a lack of awareness of cloud-based technology could put innovative new payments solutions out of reach for many banks at a time when competition is at a premium.

What follows are the results of that research in four sections: legacy infrastructure, real-time payments, treasury management and open banking.

With so much at stake banks are approaching the short-term future of their business with a spirit and intent of innovation, improvement and partnership. As long as the word “digital” is placed before each of these phrases, they will be able to compete for business and consumer accounts.