Regulation has been identified as the “biggest barrier to digital innovation” in the UK, according to FIS’ Annual Readiness Report.
However, the report also cited that the most significant challenge facing US firms’ digitisation is complicated legacy IT systems and cyber risk.
Other findings from the report showed that from a global perspective, the gap in operational performance between Readiness Leaders—firms scoring in the top 20 percent against the FIS Readiness Index—and the rest of the industry is closing.
This shift was attributed to more firms adopting cloud technology and automation.
Furthermore, FIS identified increased investment in technology among asset managers, which has provided them with greater scope to specialise their offering, particularly concerning client acquisition and access to risk and performance reports.
The report also found that UK financial institutions, in particular, are falling behind in the adoption of open technology amid fears over exposing their data.
Overall, growth in the industry was attributed to emerging technologies, risk management and organisational structure.
Martin Boyd, head of capital markets at FIS, said: “Overall, UK institutions are well-developed in their digital strategies, but there is still significant work to be done to modernise systems and adopt new technology to retain their competitive edge.”
“Financial services leaders are charting a path to future success by aligning technology, operations and talent to support new business models.”
He continued: “While the capabilities gap is closing, all financial institutions need to leave legacy models behind, move towards a more open innovation model, and take a targeted approach to emerging technology to maintain a growth advantage.”
The survey was answered by more than 2,000 c-level and senior executives across buy-side, sell-side, insurance firms and new for this year, retail banking firms.
