The 2025 Update of The Alkami Digital Sales & Service Maturity Model is an addendum to the original market research published in 2024. This refreshed research study examines levels of digital maturity across 200+ U.S. financial institutions, with the most advanced institutions reporting up to five times average annual revenue growth than peers. The study, developed by Alkami in partnership with financial services influencer Jim Marous and Emerald Research Group, paints a picture of the spectrum of digital maturity by categorizing banks and credit unions into distinct segments based on their readiness and implementation of digital strategies.

Building on the findings of the 2024 Report, the most recent research deep dives into the latest trends impacting the financial services industry from advancements in data and artificial intelligence (AI) to the security measures financial institutions have taken to protect their account holders and themselves from evolving fraud threats.

New findings revealed three critical dimensions of the most digitally mature:

• Security and fraud: Advanced institutions take noticeably different approaches—not only from their peers, but also from one another.
• Employee experience: Digital leaders are expanding the definition of “user experience” to include employees.
• AI and data maturity: Digitally mature institutions are widening their lead with AI initiatives and are already tackling more complex data challenges—far ahead of the curve.

Renewed themes from the initial market research:

• Digital maturity is linked to revenue growth, with the most advanced institutions reporting up to five times the annual average revenue growth than their peers.
• Organization size does not solely determine digital maturity. Roughly one-third of financial institutions excelling digitally have less than $500 million in assets. In contrast, more than one in eight of the least digitally mature institutions have more than $5 billion in assets.

When breaking down the market, financial institutions fall into a spectrum of digital maturity for retail banking.