Business · Companies · 10 hrs ago
Banks plan to keep core banking providers despite concerns about their systems
A study by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences found that 65% of banks expect to keep their current core banking provider for another 10 years.
That share was 32% in a 2023 study, and only 10% of banks think they are likely to switch within five years.
Banks value the systems’ reliability but criticize their usability and slow delivery of new features.
High migration costs, risks and a lack of convincing alternatives help explain why banks stay with providers despite those concerns.
Many banks add new applications around their existing core systems to introduce features such as customer services, data analysis and artificial intelligence without replacing the central platform.
But connecting extra applications is difficult, and banks say AI integration is a major future need even as they see little progress or cost savings so far.
Competition is shifting toward add-on services and how easily they connect, while providers such as Avaloq and Finnova retain stable customer relationships.
A study found that 65 percent of surveyed banks expect to keep their current core banking provider for another decade.
Only 10 percent consider a provider change likely within the next five years.
Banks value the stability of their core systems but criticize their usability and pace of innovation.
Many banks are adding applications around their core systems to introduce new features without replacing the central platform.
The study says this approach creates integration challenges and increases the need to manage providers and risks.
- Who
- Banks surveyed in a study by the Institute of Financial Services Zug at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
- What
- Most surveyed banks expect to stay with their current core banking provider despite concerns about their systems.
- When
- The study was published on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
- Where
- Not stated
- Why
- The study authors cite providers’ plans to open their platforms, a lack of convincing alternatives, high migration costs and risks, and the ability to modernize through additional applications.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
In the previous study, 32 percent of banks expected to continue working with their current provider in ten years.
The study was published, reporting that 65 percent of surveyed banks expected to remain with their current provider for another decade.
- Expected to stay with current provider
- 65 percent
- Likely to switch within five years
- 10 percent
- Core system strengths
- 95 percent cite stability, availability, reliability and resilience among the system’s three biggest strengths
- Innovation through additional applications
- 68 percent of surveyed institutions innovate mainly or mostly through surrounding systems
- Integration challenges
- 62 percent find connecting an additional application difficult or very difficult
- AI integration requirement
- 41 percent rank it among the top requirements for core banking systems in three to five years