Software

Study finds outdated core holds banks back

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September 23, 2026

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Community banks with identical growth strategies in similar markets often yield drastically different results due to limitations in their core processing systems, according to a report by Cornerstone Advisors.

The study, "Uncaged: How the Right Core Enables Community Bank Growth," was commissioned by bank tech provider DCI and highlights how outdated core technology stalls financial institutions before growth strategies can take root, according to a press release.

"A bank's core system houses years of transactional history," Elizabeth Gujral, a director at Cornerstone Advisors and co-author of the report, said in the release."But if the bank can't access that information in real time, such as when a customer is most likely to leave or most ready to buy, it has no way to act on that knowledge."

Key findings from the report include:

Digital account abandonment surpasses 50% when application times exceed three to five minutes.
Nearly one-third of community banks still use manual processing for core onboarding, even as fintechs captured 56% of new checking and payment accounts in 2025.
Nearly one-third of midsize banks lack the infrastructure to securely manage open APIs, hindering real-time fraud detection and AI integrations.
80% of bank executives view major fintechs as a significant competitive threat, up from 47% in 2023.