What we’re seeing:
Ownership over digital banking platforms is anything but consistent across financial institutions. Among banks, 37% have placed responsibility for digital decisions in the hands of a dedicated digital team, often led by a Chief Digital Officer or similar role. This is encouraging and suggests a growing commitment to treating digital as a standalone product that deserves strategic leadership. Credit unions reflect a similar trend, with 38% reporting that a dedicated digital team leads their platform strategy; slightly outpacing banks. This alignment points to a shared recognition across institution types that digital experience now warrants focused leadership.
The second most common model for banks (26%) is distributing responsibility across multiple teams; splitting decisions between front-end and back-end, or across business units. While this model allows for broader input, it can also slow execution without tight coordination and regular alignment. On the credit union side, 18% follow this decentralized approach, which may reflect their leaner teams or collaborative culture.
Meanwhile, 20% of banks rely on product or experience teams, and 16% default to IT (Information Technology). Among credit unions, those numbers shift slightly to 24% and 20%, respectively. This suggests that while credit unions may be slightly more inclined to involve business-side leadership in digital decisions, they also have a higher share still leaning on IT. This may signal legacy thinking, where digital is treated more as infrastructure than an experience. As banks and credit unions continue evolving into tech-forward institutions, that number should trend downward.
This lack of clarity can be a major barrier to innovation, efficiency, and even security. Digital banking platforms are often the primary interaction account holders have with an institution’s brand and are the front door to institutions. Without clear ownership, updates get delayed, roadmaps lose focus, and strategic initiatives can fall through the cracks. The result? Frustrated account holders, fragmented user experiences, and operational inefficiencies.
Takeaway and Call-to-Action:
The financial institutions that shine in this area are the ones that treat digital like a product, not another tool. They assign product owners, create sprint-based roadmaps, and treat user experience as a living, breathing strategy that evolves to address account holder expectations and organizational needs.
Financial institutions should formalize digital leadership. That could be a dedicated digital team, a product owner in IT, or a cross-functional digital council. Those that lead in this space start with one simple principle: clear ownership.
Who owns your digital experience? If you had to pause to answer, you may already be facing a silent risk. The financial institutions that clearly define ownership over their digital banking platform and empower that role with the resources and cross-departmental alignment to drive results are the ones best positioned to compete in today’s digital-first environment.
Source: Alkami Proprietary Research – Surveyed 202 digital banking platform decision makers. Data collected November 5 – December 3, 2024.
