Loan Growth, Efficiencies & Digital: Jack Henry Survey Reveals FI Priorities

The fintech organization Jack Henry’s annual Strategic Priorities Benchmark Study found the majority of credit union and bank CEOs overwhelmingly want to prioritize growing loans for their organizations during the next year.

The survey results, released Thursday by the Monett, Mo.-based Jack Henry, came from more than 100 CEOs at financial institutions ranging in asset size from $500 million to more than $10 billion.

According to the results, the survey found the following as top strategic priorities for financial institution leaders:

• Growing loans (67%);
• Boosting operational efficiencies (44%); and
• Adding digital products/features (39%).

The survey also revealed the top three concerns of credit union and banking executives. The concerns included:

• Talent acquisition and retention (60%);
• Net interest margin compression (49%); and
• Fraud and security (41%).

The biggest innovation concern, according to Jack Henry’s survey, was speed to market followed by resistance to change.

The top competitive threats included: Fintechs (24%), big tech firms (24%) big banks (16%), and other community-based banks and credit unions (16%).

The survey also stated that 85% of respondents “plan to pursue a niche market to scale growth, differentiate in a crowded financial services market and support local communities” in the next 12 months.

Jack Henry Chief Strategy Officer Gautam Sircar said, “The acceleration of change in the financial services sector is driven by many factors, including technology advancements, economic challenges, changes in consumer expectations and shifting competition. Keeping the pulse on the most strategic items for bank and credit union CEOs is important to our strategy.”

The survey also found 79% of respondents plan to increase technology spend “over the next two years with digital banking, automation, and fraud and security technology being the highest investment priorities.”