1. Developing new services takes too much time
You don’t have to be a scientist to explain why running innovative development projects in an old system with layers and layers of software development is complex. Sooner or later, even the slightest technical updates will become complicated and time-consuming. Your tech department will get frustrated when your system or current supplier forces you to slow down your work pace. With a new banking solution and a new supplier, you can make changes that used to take several months in only a few days.
If your current solution also lacks a support system for agile working methods, you won’t be able to keep up with the ever-changing financial landscape.
2. There are significant operational risks in your banking system
An old banking platform where new applications have been added and numerous software updates have been made will eventually become challenging to manage. Many times, it’s not just one core banking solution but several different systems that have been intertwined. With this setup, you’ll risk ending up with a complex system that only a few dedicated employees understand. When these employees resign or retire, you suddenly have a very vulnerable software solution that’s also crucial for your entire business.
These systems are not uncommon to require manual data input, especially if you’ve previously suffered integration issues. This increases the risk of data inconsistency and time-consuming processes.
3. It’s difficult to expand old solutions
Walking through the city of Rome gives you an interesting perspective on architecture. People live in houses with foundations that seem a thousand years old. Buildings that have been repaired and rebuilt many times over the years. The results are fascinating, exciting, and beautiful – but not very practical. And no architect fully understands the whole building or wants to take responsibility for it.
You can say the same thing about a banking solution that has been rebuilt for decades.
Learn more about how a new banking solution can help you in our manual.
4. It’s getting increasingly difficult to create attractive offerings
It doesn’t matter how creative your employees are if your platform doesn’t support the development of new services. When your old marketing software limits your business innovations, you will quickly fall behind fast-paced competitors. This is also a branding issue. It will harm your business's reputation if you can’t meet your customers' expectations. In addition, your employees will become frustrated. Your core banking solution must support growth if you want to attract new and existing customers and retain employees.
5. You need a future-proof banking solution
A bank must be compliant with regulatory requirements. In an ever-changing environment, it is even more critical that your growth initiatives align with existing and future regulations. This also involves your banking solution. In old systems, it can be hard to align software development efforts with legal requirements.
There’s also the scenario where you want to leave your home-built software architecture for a standard solution that meets the legal demands of external partners.
6. You must accelerate your operational efficiency
Speeding up your processes, creating support for faster software development and decreasing the need for manual work all comes down to operational efficiency. A modern and reliable platform will generate lower monitoring costs, shorter processing times, and improved customer availability. Remember that efficiency isn’t always the same as maximum flexibility and haste. Many old software solutions are both fast and flexible but not compliant. If your software can do one thing in many different ways, it can be hard to find efficient working methods based on best practices.
7. One platform instead of several systems
Most banks have gone through a digital transformation journey – and still are. Along the way, many have realised that the banking system they’ve chosen can’t provide the support they need to develop desired new functionality and offerings. The solution to this problem is usually to buy new or expand existing software solutions to meet direct requirements.
Unfortunately, these quick fixes have led to new long-term problems that you can’t repair as quickly. Integrating different software systems is expensive and can cause technical errors. Software development gets complicated, and monitoring becomes inefficient. Gathering all digital assets on one core banking platform will help you avoid these situations.
8. Access to organisational working methods and processes
All systems look different, and sometimes they have entirely different processes to do similar tasks. This becomes complicated and inefficient for your employees. To customers, it can seem messy or disorganised. To streamline the user experience, you need one software solution with one user interface that looks the same for all customers and services you offer.
9. You need a new IT strategy
As banking technology gets increasingly complex, there’s an increased demand for skilled IT professionals. Finding the right IT consultants will be problematic if you rely on makeshift IT solutions and can lead to increased costs, decreased profitability and lost opportunities. Even though IT has become a significant part of the banking industry, it's not yet considered a core competency. Instead, your core banking solution should enable flexibility and allow you to choose a new partner anytime.
Want to learn more about how Applicon’s core banking solution works? Contact us, and we will tell you all about it!
