Most banks not ready for 2030 payments demands despite infrastructure investment, survey finds
Most banks not ready for 2030 payments demands despite infrastructure investment, survey finds #
A global survey commissioned by ACI Worldwide and conducted by Finextra Research finds that investment in payments infrastructure is accelerating but that many financial institutions are not on track to meet expected demand by 2030.
Finextra Research polled 162 respondents across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia Pacific region on behalf of ACI Worldwide. The resulting report, “Payments 2030: The Payoff Year,” is intended to help financial institutions navigate changes expected in global payments over the next several years.
Cloud adoption is one of the report’s more striking findings. Only 7% of surveyed institutions currently run on fully cloud-based infrastructure, though a quarter expect to reach that point within five years. Most have taken a hybrid approach, adding cloud capabilities to existing legacy systems rather than replacing them outright, a path shaped by the cost and complexity of full migration. The report notes that banks tend to move more slowly in this area than neobanks, given their larger existing infrastructure investments. Eighty-one percent of respondents said they are actively upgrading their infrastructure or plan to do so.
Instant payments have become a broad priority. About four in ten organizations currently support real-time payments, and an additional 41% plan to adopt them within two years, pushing combined adoption above 80%. European institutions show the strongest movement toward real-time capability; the Asia Pacific market is more fragmented.
Account-to-account payments drew particular attention in the findings. Sixty-three percent of respondents expect A2A payment volumes to grow more than 10% annually over the next five years, driven by customer demand for faster settlement and regulatory changes across multiple markets.
Preparedness gaps persist despite the investment commitments. Forty-six percent of respondents said they feel only somewhat prepared, or less, to handle growing volumes of end-user-initiated digital payments. The report notes that even 1% of institutions reporting complete unpreparedness represents roughly 440 financial institutions globally that are not positioned to meet anticipated demand. One in three institutions acknowledged operating with limited capabilities or doing only what regulators require.
The report is available for download and is positioned as a strategic planning resource for the period leading up to 2030.
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