Introduction

Banks are spending more on commercial banking and payments modernization than they have in years. More than three-quarters have a bigger treasury management IT budget this year than last. Yet, despite more resources, only 34% of technology implementations go live on time.

Datos Insights wanted to know why. Commissioned by Go-Live Faster, they surveyed 61 U.S. banks and credit unions with $5B to 100B in assets and interviewed 11 commercial banking leaders. Their answers point to integration complexity, data migration problems, stretched internal teams and other execution challenges as the source of delay. Some takeaways:

• Testing is where the cracks show, with two-thirds of financial institutions (FIs) rating their own testing on complex platform changes as adequate at best.

• 62% say their integrations most often break on data mapping.

• And when a release goes wrong, customers feel it: 51% of FIs have seen commercial customers impacted by issues following a go-live in the past year.

• Banks estimate each month of delay costs $100,000 to $400,000.

Now, FIs are responding. 79% have already brought in outside partners to improve testing and implementation processes, and 91% of the leaders interviewed expect to rely on them more over the next 12 to 18 months.

What you'll learn

The full Datos Insights report breaks down the findings by asset size, so you can see how your institution compares with your peers. Inside:

• Where FIs are putting their cash management, payment hub and commercial digital banking budgets

• The implementation risks bankers worry about most, and where integrations actually fail

• What causes timelines to slip, and what each month of delay costs

• The testing gaps that hold FIs back, from automation to test data quality

• What FIs value most in a testing and implementation partner, and where providers have fallen short

Why it matters

Most FIs complete only one to four major treasury projects a year. Each one shapes how commercial customers see the bank over the long term, well after go-live. Getting it right the first time is essential.

We commissioned this research because it confirms what we hear from banks every day. Go-Live Faster exists to eliminate implementation delays and go-live risks. Our AI-powered testing and validation platform is backed by 19+ years of banking expertise across commercial banking, core banking, lending and payments. And we’ve built a library of 90,000+ pre-built test cases for 70+ platforms like Bottomline, Finastra, Finzly, FIS, Fiserv and Q2 to reduce implementation times by 40%, lower project risk and accelerate business impact.