RESEARCH REPORT
Top 10 banking trends in 2025 and beyond
To rebuild their relationship with customers, banks must look to the past to build the future.
5-minute read
January 8, 2025
In brief
- The past 25 years of digitization has made banking more efficient, but it also stripped away the human touch, leaving customers feeling alienated.
- AI is ushering in a new era, restoring banks as trusted financial consultants and deepening relationships through personalized advice and experiences.
- Banks must shift from "why we can't do this" to "how might we do it" to build their future by leveraging the best of their past.
01
Technology enables banking for all
Generative AI promises to unlock the next wave of personalized, customer-centric innovation, driving financial empowerment for all.
By 2030, the widespread adoption of digital technologies and AI will make banking universally accessible. Banks will be able to deliver inclusive, personalized and proactive services for individuals and businesses across the globe.
02
Regulators’ quest to eliminate risk is creating new risk
Regulatory pressure is pushing borrowers toward the non-bank sector for their mortgages and commercial credit. Banks of the future will depend on bold strategies, innovative partnerships and technology-driven solutions to stay competitive and relevant in a transforming financial ecosystem.
By 2030, the largest banks may not be banks. Non-traditional players will have reshaped the financial landscape, pushing traditional banks to innovate, collaborate and adapt through advanced technologies and strategic partnerships to remain competitive.
03
Scale matters more than ever
As the gap between the largest banks and their smaller rivals widens, scale is emerging as the ultimate competitive advantage.
By 2030, scale will define success. The largest institutions will leverage unmatched efficiencies, technological innovation, and global reach to outpace competitors and reshape the financial landscape.
04
Customer experiences go back to the future
Generative AI is reversing the impersonal nature of digital banking, creating emotionally engaging experiences that feel like the personalized service of the past.
By 2030, banks will have fully transformed their operations to offer hyper-personalized banking experiences, anticipating customer needs, driving loyalty, and fostering long-term growth.
Read our Consumer Study to learn about powering growth through customer advocacy.
05
Product strategy: From siloed to inseparably connected
Generative AI is shifting banking from a product-centric to a customer-centric model. Banks can tailor their products and services to meet the unique needs of each customer segment, empowering customers to create their own personalized banking solutions.
By 2030, customers will be able to design their own financial portfolio with tailored products, dynamic pricing, and customized advice, making financial services more relevant and personal for everyone.
06
A different way of working
Generative AI is set to revolutionize banking by transforming routine tasks, enhancing customer experiences and reshaping roles. It introduces new era of continuous change and human + machine collaboration.
By 2030, generative AI will be fully integrated into every aspect of banking, automating routine tasks and fostering seamless collaboration between AI and human employees.
07
A shift from ‘waste out’ to ‘value in’
Generative AI will drive "waste out" by automating manual processes like risk and compliance testing, reducing costs by up to 60% in the next two to three years. It will also bring "value in" by freeing customer-facing talent to focus on high-value interactions, improving customer satisfaction and sales effectiveness.
By 2030, generative AI will be a universal tool for improving operational efficiency. But its greatest contribution to banks’ financial performance will be to drive revenue and growth.
08
The future is open source
The future of banking is being reshaped by open-source systems. Banks are moving away from legacy technologies to platforms like Linux, which offer unparalleled agility, efficiency, and security.
By 2030, open-source architectures will form the backbone of banking infrastructure, enabling institutions to customize and scale their operations, cut costs, and drive innovation. The banking landscape will become more interconnected, benefiting the entire financial ecosystem.
09
Traditional coding fades into the past
Generative AI is set to untangle the complex legacy spaghetti code by reverse-engineering and modernizing outdated code. Just as slide rules gave way to digital calculators, banks are transitioning to AI-driven solutions that can translate and rewrite code into modern languages.
By 2030, all banks will use generative AI for application development, and many will tackle their technical debt by migrating securely from their aging core platforms.
10
Platform providers face the innovator’s dilemma
Generative AI is driving the SaaS and banking platform providers to innovate and elevate their offerings. These providers are increasingly embracing composable architectures, which allow for easy integration and customization under standardized architecture-as-a-service models.
By 2030, AI integration will be a standard feature in nearly every banking solution, as providers develop highly advanced, AI-driven products and experiences. The industry will shift toward composable banking-specific architectures and marketplaces.
Stay curious, read more
As banking reinvents itself with data, AI, and digital technologies, it faces a paradox: digitization has stripped away personal, empathetic relationships with customers. Banks must confront this by exploring how AI and technology can help restore those connections. Read the full report.
Transition to the bank of 2030
The past 25 years have marked the Digital Age in banking, a period of unparalleled innovation that revolutionized customer convenience and bank efficiency. However, this transformation has also stripped away the personal, empathetic relationships that customers once valued.
As we stand on the brink of a new era, the key to success lies in embracing curiosity and leveraging AI, data, and cloud technologies to restore these human connections. The bank of 2030 must balance digital efficiencies with customer-centric empathy, adopting a new mindset and continuous reinvention to become indispensable partners in their customers' financial lives.
As the digital and AI ages converge, it's time to go back to the future for banking and put humanity at the forefront. AI will open the aperture to more personal, empathetic, and meaningful experiences for customers.
Michael Abbott / Global Banking Lead, Accenture