PUBLISHED DATE: 2025-08-13 15:20:31

2022 Global Banking Benchmark Study

The inside story from 1,000 senior banking leaders

The Global Banking Benchmark Study is part of an ongoing programme of research on the latest digital transformation trends in Financial Services. To access more reports, articles, and case studies from our teams around the world, visit www.publicissapient.com/fs

CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This year’s Global Banking Benchmark Study, based on a survey of more than 1,000 senior executives at banks around the world, reveals that banks are aggressively gearing up for the next phase of digital transformation. After making only moderate progress in the past 12 months, banks are refocusing on operational agility by investing in new technologies, enhancing their data use, and reorganizing their internal structures.

KEY FINDINGS

1. TRANSFORMATION PROGRESS, BUT NOT AT THE REQUIRED PACE

This year’s survey shows that respondents have progressed with their transformation initiatives, yet bank leaders are still feeling the competition from non-bank industry disruptors such as large technology companies and fintechs.

What defines banking leadership?

Today, banks need to deliver superior customer experiences while being operationally agile to drive growth and compete with digital-first challengers and new tech entrants. The Global Banking Benchmark Study ranked the digital transformation maturity of leaders by assessing specific traits and behaviors of both customer and operational leadership.

Customer Leadership (Traditional Banks):

Operational Leadership (New Banking Leaders):

The majority say they have yet to make significant progress on executing their digital transformation plans. Top barriers include:

WHICH QUALITIES DO BANKS FEAR IN THEIR COMPETITORS, AND HOW ARE THESE SHAPING THEIR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION STRATEGIES?

Qualities most feared in competitors:

2. IMPROVING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: A TOP PRIORITY

Survey respondents cite improving customer experience as their most important digital transformation goal. To achieve this, banks are:

Biggest opportunities to improve customer experience:

85% of C-level execs say customer experience is a key metric, compared with just 55% of senior managers.

3. HIGH INTEREST IN MODERN CORE BANKING SYSTEMS

Banks plan to revamp their internal operations to facilitate the necessary step change in customer experience, drive efficiencies, and cut costs. Their top priority for the next three years in operational transformation is investing in modern cloud-based core banking systems.

Top priorities:

Attracting and retaining banking talent with the right skills is crucial. Beyond technical skills, banks look for a strong sense of ownership, curiosity, empathy, and a data-driven mindset.

C-suite vs. Senior Management perspectives:

Partnerships are challenging to forge but bring huge benefits. Technology integration is not the only problem; potential partners may be reluctant to share data due to privacy concerns or the value they place on their data.

4. THE OPERATIONAL AGILITY IMPERATIVE

Banks rank a lack of operational agility as the second-most significant barrier to digital transformation in the past 12 months, behind only COVID-19. Agility includes having the technology and data that enable urgent change, collaboration between teams, and a culture that promotes experimentation and adaptability.

With agility, banks can scale at speed and deliver better products and experiences for customers.

Agile operating model adoption:

Biggest opportunities to improve operational agility:

IMPROVING DATA ACCESS ACCELERATES BANKING TRANSFORMATION

Banks are investing in data and analytics to obtain a richer understanding of their customers and their relationship with the bank. However, many banks still struggle to access the data they need, when they need it, and in a usable format. This is a significant barrier to transformation, as it limits the ability to personalize customer experiences, innovate, and drive operational efficiency.

Banks that have made the most progress in their digital transformation journeys are those that have invested in modern data architectures and platforms, enabling them to break down silos and make data available across the organization. This allows for real-time insights, better decision-making, and the ability to quickly respond to changing customer needs and market conditions.

Common data challenges:

RETHINK TEAM STRUCTURES TO PROMOTE DIGITAL BANKING TRANSFORMATION

Most banks are structured in a traditional vertical fashion, with individuals working in discrete business functions or on specific products. This legacy structure can often prove inefficient for digital banking transformation. Internal processes often span multiple teams, meaning no one group is accountable for customer outcomes or improving customer journeys. Customers may have multiple products and relationships with a bank that span multiple teams, so improving customer experiences requires a joined-up approach.

An alternative is to create teams-of-teams focused on improving a particular customer journey, such as opening a new bank account or applying for a mortgage. These teams should incorporate individuals from the back and front office and across multiple functions, meeting regularly to discuss progress on key initiatives. These “end-to-end” teams can deliver change much more rapidly because all necessary stakeholders are involved from the outset. In times of intense competition, reduced time to market is a key differentiator.

Encouragingly, 63% of banks plan to structure their teams around specific customer segments. Such teams will have a more holistic view of their customers and, therefore, be better positioned to improve the services they offer.

In an even more radical approach, some banks have decided to isolate their transformation team completely from the wider business to free themselves from outmoded approaches to change and innovation. One example is SEB, which launched an innovation studio, SEBx, in 2018.

PUT CUSTOMERS AT THE CENTER OF INNOVATION

Banks are investing in capabilities that directly address customer needs, even if they seem traditional or non-profitable, because customer demand drives innovation.

5. THE ESG “SAY-DO” GAP

More than half of banks report that they feel significant pressure to improve their ESG (environmental, social, and governance) credentials; this rises to 61% of surveyed C-level executives. This pressure comes from multiple sources, including customers and employees, who increasingly want their banks to address societal challenges more actively. Banks therefore have an opportunity to carve out a competitive edge and key point of differentiation by actively addressing ESG topics.

6. CONCLUSION

FOUR ACTIONS BANKS SHOULD TAKE

  1. Create rich customer profiles using internal and external data
  2. Integrate channels to provide a seamless omnichannel experience
  3. Digitize core banking systems
  4. Transform from a product-centric to a customer-centric operating model

7. ABOUT THE RESEARCH

The Global Banking Benchmark Study is based on a survey of more than 1,000 senior executives at banks around the world. The survey was conducted in the following countries:

RESPONDENT PROFILE

Role:

Annual revenue of bank:

CONTRIBUTORS

ACCELERATE TO A DIGITAL-FIRST FUTURE

Publicis Sapient works with over 100 leading financial services companies around the world, helping them to transform for the digital era.

GET IN TOUCH

publicissapient.com/fs
edeltraud.leibrock@publicissapient.com
mahesh.raghavan@publicissapient.com
priya.bajaria@publicissapient.com
philippe.rozental@publicissapient.com
thierry.quesnel@publicissapient.com
zachary.scott@publicissapient.com

publicissapient.com