Maintaining older systems slows advancements towards real-time payment and regulatory compliance.
A Bottomline report released at Sibos on Monday shows that 91% of banks and other financial institutions expect compliance challenges in the coming year, as they manage regulations, customer expectations, and fraud prevention.
The global report, “The Future of Competitive Advantage in Banking & Payments,” highlights legacy systems as a significant obstacle and is based on interviews with 220 financial institutions. Slightly more than four in ten respondents cited these systems as the biggest barrier to real-time payments, and 31% mentioned that they hinder regulatory compliance.
Operational resilience remains a key concern, with 37% of those surveyed highlighting the importance of using alternative payment methods to prevent primary system failures. Modernization is a key focus, with 32% concentrating on new payment channels and another 32% on enhancing cross-border strategies.
A significant “cash visibility gap” persists: 50% lack an end-to-end view due to disparate systems, and 45% report incomplete cash positioning despite partial automation, underscoring the need for comprehensive cash visibility and real-time balance tracking.
Prioritization of Swift Global Payments Innovation (GPI) surged from 35% in 2024 to 56% in 2025. This addresses slow or unclear payment speeds, identified by 61% as a top pain point, through real-time tracking and enhanced visibility.
Accuracy in sanctions screening is paramount, with 57% highlighting it as the most important factor when selecting a solution. This relates to the 37% who cite high volumes of false positives as their biggest challenge, hindering operational efficiency.
Vitus Rotzer, Bottomline’s Chief Product Officer for Financial Messaging, warns that companies not yet implementing ISO 20022 messaging are significantly behind schedule.
“It is crucial for companies to understand that ISO implementation goes beyond a mere technical upgrade. Most have already handled the technical aspects, but truly leveraging the data offers far greater advantages,” he says. “The more detailed and enhanced data available, the greater the potential for identifying fraud patterns and other critical insights. Companies not utilizing this rich data are at a distinct disadvantage, effectively starting behind their competitors. The value lies in fully exploiting the enhanced information that ISO provides.”
