Tech Investment Priorities for Financial Leaders Under Pressure

Leaders at banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions face numerous uncertainties as they make critical decisions on where to focus their technology spend. Many hope relative stability built throughout 2024 will provide new opportunities for strategic investment and growth.

At the same time, they face significant economic unknowns, as the impacts of factors such as tariffs, regulatory changes, and shifting interest rates remain unclear. In Strata Decision Technology’s 2025 CFO Outlook for Financial Institutions, industry leaders reported that interest rates are the No. 1 risk they are concerned about this year, given the high level of uncertainty about if and when interest rates might change.

Even with the uncertainties, leaders recognize that rapid technology growth across industries will not slow anytime soon. In fact, with decreasing regulation under the Trump administration extending to digital-only fintech companies and cryptocurrency providers, traditional banks and credit unions expect to see heightened competition from the segment.

To navigate these pressures and remain competitive, financial institution leaders must prioritize technology investments that will produce the greatest return, especially if they are working under bandwidth constraints and limited resources. Organizational leaders should focus on the following three priorities to identify technology investments that will help move the needle for their institutions:

• Move away from legacy systems that impede innovation
• Identify trusted technology partners who can facilitate growth
• Leverage data to monitor changing customer behaviors and market conditions

Move away from legacy systems that impede innovation

Legacy technology can cost businesses millions in maintenance and lost efficiencies. In addition to the financial costs, legacy technology also imposes technical debt on organizations — outdated code that can impact productivity, product quality, and customer satisfaction.

Legacy systems contribute to a number of challenges for employees across financial organizations. More than half of banking leaders listed legacy infrastructure as a leading business challenge, according to a recent Forbes Insights report. Specifically, they said that outdated systems can drag down front office workflows, impede a bank’s ability to innovate and stay competitive, and make it difficult to upgrade technology. The inability to embrace new and updated tools can hinder an organization’s ability to scale and create siloed processes that widen the margins for errors and inaccuracies across the business.

To reduce time and operational constraints — especially for smaller financial institutions with limited resources and staff — institutions should move away from legacy systems.

Identify trusted technology partners who can facilitate growth

To modernize workflows and operational processes, and to continue to appeal to customers in an increasingly sophisticated tech environment, financial institution leaders must find technology partners who can support growth with secure, reliable, and scalable solutions.

Every technology investment must demonstrate clear value, not only in terms of immediate functionality, but also in its potential to generate a long-term return on investment (ROI). To make informed decisions, finance leaders should seek out partners whose solutions have been validated through third-party testing and real-world use cases. Proven performance can mitigate risk and ensure that new technologies align with institutional goals.

The right technology partnerships can drive significant improvements in customer service and operational efficiencies, including modernizing general ledger systems, bolstering monitoring capabilities, and enhancing loan deposit processes. Implementing technologies that safeguard customer assets and sensitive data can strengthen institutional trust — a fundamental pillar of financial services. By protecting their customers, financial institutions can build and expand relationships founded on transparency and reliability.

Automation plays a crucial role in these advancements. By streamlining time-consuming and data-intensive processes, finance leaders can free up internal resources, allowing their teams to focus on strategic initiatives that drive institutional growth.

Leveraging data to monitor changing customer behaviors and market conditions

Financial institutions have access to an unprecedented volume of customer, financial, and operational data, but many fail to put it to use. According to the 2025 CFO Outlook for Financial Institutions report, finance leaders recognize the need to use data more strategically, yet many struggle with siloed systems, inconsistent reporting, and difficulties accessing reliable insights. In response, industry leaders cited improving data and analytics among their top three areas for technology spending in 2025.

With an enhanced ability to access and understand reliable data, financial institution leaders can precisely monitor changing customer behaviors and sentiments. Understanding how and why customer preferences shift enables institutions to proactively tailor their services, refine engagement strategies, and maintain a competitive advantage. Rather than reacting to industry changes, financial institutions equipped with real-time data insights can anticipate trends and be proactive in adjusting their offerings.

To achieve this, organizations must adopt technology solutions and processes that allow them to harness the power of data to inform strategic decisions. Technology platforms should integrate data from multiple sources, including transaction histories, digital banking interactions, and broader financial and operational metrics. Tools should enable leaders to easily drill down into reports, identify key variances, and extract meaningful insights to drive informed decision-making.

Leveraging data for strategic planning strengthens institutions’ abilities to navigate market headwinds. With a clearer understanding of economic fluctuations, competitive pressures, and regulatory shifts, financial leaders can make agile, data-backed decisions that safeguard long-term stability.
Financial institutions that invest in data analytics solutions will be better positioned to align their goals with market expectations, improve operational efficiencies, and deliver personalized, customer-centric experiences that drive sustained growth.

As technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, leaders must identify solutions that add value while ensuring reliability and long-term sustainability. By modernizing outdated systems, partnering with trusted technology providers, and leveraging data to inform key decisions, financial leaders can build the stability needed to navigate uncertainty. Ultimately, this can strengthen institutions and reinforce the trust and confidence their customers place in them every day.

A quote or advice from the author: “As leaders at banks, credit unions, and financial institutions navigate rapid technological change and ongoing uncertainty, they must make strategic decisions to sustain operational success. Key to this is moving beyond legacy systems that hinder innovation, collaborating with trusted technology partners to drive growth, and harnessing data to comprehend customer behavior and market trends. These steps help ensure long-term returns, reliability and long-term resilience in a constantly shifting landscape.”

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