IT spending in corporate banking will continue to grow from 2024 through to 2026 – even accelerating in most regions. Some of these increases will be eroded by inflation, and there is also a clear trend toward focusing investments that improve how the bank is run rather than toward innovation and growth initiatives. Top-level drivers of investment have subtly changed, with security and operational resilience jumping into the top three top three drivers or themes for the first time. In fact, it ranked highest overall. As a driver, pressures to meet regulatory requirements slipped from the top three, although it remains the top issue for a significant number of banks.

Bank IT spending continues accelerating worldwide. Celent’s latest data shows that IT spending for corporate banking rose an average of 5.6% in 2025 (slightly lower than projected) and is expected to increase by a further 6.1% in 2026.

65% of financial institutions globally say they have a strategy for engaging in the new banking ecosystem, while 55%think it is harder to win and retain customers.These data points reflect the challenging market conditions that continue to prevail.

The top three drivers for IT spend globally are: improving security and operational resilience, achieving greater speed and agility, andenhancing the product/proposition.

Technology priorities have been completely driven by the rapid rise of AI. Advanced analytics, andAIhave risen to the top of the priority list, with 47% of banks picking this as a top three priority. That’s almost 20 percentage-points more than the second-ranked priority. Celent recommend that banks use this AI enthusiasm to enhance data platform capabilities.

In terms of business and product priorities, there is a clear winner. Close to half of banks (44%) ranked corporate digital banking platforms as a top three priority, followed by payments modernization (36%) and then a tie between client lifecycle management and corporate digital channels (31%).