The IT Financial System of Tomorrow: From Pure Banking IT to a Connected Business Architecture
Banks are undergoing constant transformation. It’s no longer just about achieving an ideal target state; instead, the focus is on the ability to adapt quickly and flexibly to changing conditions. In this process, IT financial systems have rapidly evolved from monolithic core applications to modular, interoperable platforms. Four drivers are at the forefront for banks in shaping the IT of tomorrow: customer behavior, technology, regulation, and connectivity as part of business ecosystems.
Those who want to position themselves broadly and future-proof are already decoupling technical components along strategic business areas through targeted modularization. The goal should also be to make data usable in real time and to provide it flexibly.
In short: The “core” remains critical, but it recedes into the background as an invisible engine, while the depth of integration of services and the flexible provision of data form the chassis that determines agility. The presented findings are based on a qualitative evaluation of anonymized interview results (Switzerland/Germany) and a study analysis by CC Ecosystems on strategic, process-related, and system requirements for future IT financial systems.
Key Drivers of Change
The developments of recent years show that IT financial systems, as a combination of the core and surrounding systems, are increasingly becoming part of platform-based business architectures. The impact of these architectures unfolds across strategy, processes, and the system level. Competitiveness arises from the ability to connect business requirements (e.g., fast product launches, flexible bundling of services) with technical modularity and networking capabilities.
Ecosystems & Open Banking
In the future, financial services will extend deeply into everyday and business contexts — from home life to leisure and entertainment. The prerequisite for this is consistent implementation of Open Banking and the ability to tap into regional ecosystems. Digital identity (E-ID, wallets) will become a standard building block of connectivity. New innovation spaces are emerging through digital assets and programmable money that is tied to conditions and thus automatically triggers processes once defined criteria are met. Embedded finance as a concept will pave the way for new business models. Looking at the next ten years, innovations in quantum computing could already become noticeable, with initial impacts possibly influencing security architectures. At the same time, the financial infrastructure (interbank systems, stock exchanges, central banks) remains relatively stable in its role. True disruptions, such as fully DLT-based stock trading or a digital Swiss franc, are not expected in the short term.
What Customers Will Expect Tomorrow
Banking from anywhere: Especially retail and corporate clients decide situationally and across channels which services they use. Loyalty decreases for basic products (account, card), and events trigger real-time interactions. This demands same-day (T+0) data processing, transparency, and comparability of services. In private banking, personal contact remains important; changes there will occur more on a generational basis. Systems should recognize needs, personalize offerings, and proactively deliver contextual services. AI provides support but remains hybrid, meaning human involvement is still present. Human advice continues to count, especially for complex decisions (such as financial planning). The majority sees service-centric delivery as a paradigm shift: bundled, personalized offers beyond the bank’s own platform. Embedded banking is regarded as extremely important as an integration concept. Examples range from wallet-based identification services and automated financial planning to DLT-supported assets with digital custody (for example, for private keys). The trend clearly points toward standardized modules with high configurability. Customization belongs primarily close to the frontend (channels and touchpoints) and in processes/rule sets, rather than deep in the standardizable backend. This way, end-to-end automation remains possible and the time-to-market for product innovation stays high.
Modular and Interoperable System Architecture as “Core Light”
A modular and interoperable architecture is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for modern banking systems. The core neither loses significance nor its central regulatory role, but its scope is visibly shrinking: it is evolving into a focused booking engine with clearly delineated responsibilities, while actual differentiation comes from surrounding services, integration layers, and data handling. In this context, the separation of the general ledger and sub-ledgers is gaining importance.
The general ledger serves as the bank’s central ledger and contains all entries relevant for accounting and regulation. Sub-ledgers, by contrast, are subordinate detailed books that represent specific business areas or products, and their data flows back into the main ledger when needed. A central booking system should reliably cover all regulatory-required postings; therefore, breaking it into a multitude of separate sub-ledgers is largely viewed critically.
Data management will also become more hybrid in the future. While critical master data (transactions, positions, customer data) continues to be managed centrally, the orchestration of service and context data is happening increasingly in a decentralized manner — especially where data originates directly from physical objects like vehicles or real estate. This decentralization raises requirements for orchestration, integration, and security, and calls for new architectural patterns.
A cloud-first approach in a regulated environment continues to gain importance. The journey is leading into hybrid cloud and SaaS models, driven by scalability and flexibility, with varying speed depending on the business model (retail and embedded finance moving faster, private banking more conservatively). A core question for banks is which operational and cloud competencies they want to retain in-house and how third-party integration can be made securely compliant with cloud requirements.
System boundaries are becoming more important, yet must remain invisible to the customer. Between the bank and partner platforms, clear governance and ownership of data and functions are needed. For customers, the journey remains seamless — system boundaries should not be noticeable.
From Raw Data to an AI Decision Engine
Data-driven business models and AI are attributed very high importance, end-to-end across company boundaries. Practical examples range from AI-supported risk management and compliance, instant payment analytics, and corporate action automation systems (processing unstructured data) to sales support with chatbots and portfolio decision-making assistance. Used judiciously, there will also be automated decision-making. Operationally, we will certainly see more automation through AI agents, but strategically, humans and liability remain in the lead. In other words: AI in the background will make standard decisions, while exceptions and fundamental questions will for now remain guided by humans.
E-ID, digital signatures, and wallets (SSI) are key building blocks for openness, a seamless customer journey, and secure data usage. These technologies create opportunities for added services, more targeted customer engagement, and stronger customer loyalty. However, challenges persist in security and data protection, as well as in providing transparency and managing operational complexity in distributed data landscapes.
Regulation as a Hygiene Factor – Differentiation in the Details
Regulatory compliance is non-negotiable; it must be fully met and as automated as possible (with near real-time updates), supported by AI. User-specific add-ons (e.g. MiFID services, capital gains tax processing, anti-money-laundering compliance) can contribute to differentiation, but any “cost/benefit” approach that falls short of full compliance is rejected. This requires close coordination and exchange with supervisory authorities.
How Banks Can Successfully Make the Transition
A DevOps culture is becoming standard to ensure time-to-market and agility, accompanied by proper documentation and division of work in large banks.
Banks currently identify their top projects in the following areas:
- AI utilization – applying AI in coding, compliance, advisory, and operations
- Cloud adoption – establishing cloud infrastructure and services
- Integration & data management – including handling of digital assets and DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology)
- Ecosystem integration
- Customer-centric digitalization – for example, improving onboarding, self-services, personalization, and simulation
Guardrails for Decision-Makers
- Service before product: Offer capabilities as modular services that can be bundled, embedded, and personalized, even beyond your own platform.
- Data is the operating system: Without real-time data, proactive service is impossible. An event- and consent-based data foundation cannot be established across partners without it.
- Core stays in the engine room: Modernize it into a robust, regulatory-compliant booking system to keep everything else lightweight, using API-based services that are interchangeable.
- Security & trust by design: E-ID, digital signatures, and wallets become standard. Transparency in data use is a competitive advantage, not just an obligation.
- Organization follows architecture: DevOps and platform teams enable quick iteration, and governance ensures compliance and traceability.
Conclusion
The financial IT system of tomorrow is modular, open, and networked. It enables customer-centric service bundles and embedded finance within ecosystems, leverages data and AI broadly, and ensures compliance automatically. The core remains as a critical piece of infrastructure, but in a slimmer and more invisible form. Those who think “service-first” today, orchestrate real-time data, and embrace DevOps operations are laying the groundwork for scalable business models in a connected financial world of tomorrow.
