Bank IT Spending on the Rise

Worldwide bank IT spending continues to grow at a 5.2 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), according to a new report from Framingham, Mass.-based IDC Financial Insights.

The report entitled, “Worldwide IT Spending 2010–2015: Worldwide Banking IT Spending Guide, 1H12 Update" also found that Latin America and the Middle East are among the fastest growing bank IT spending regions, with IT spending predicted to increase 10 percent in these areas.

According to IDC, forecasts for North America are a full percentage point higher than in the previous forecast. The CAGR for the forecast period is now at 3.7 percent, as U.S. banks emerge from the financial crisis and Canadian banks continue their strategic investments, said the firm.

Conversely, due to growing concerns about the future of the eurozone, forecasts for Europe have declined slightly, to 3.6 percent growth, compared with 4 percent in the previous forecast.

For the Asia/Pacific region, IT spending forecasts are essentially unchanged from the previous forecast, standing at 7.9 percent CAGR.

“The global economy will continue to flounder in 2012 as the crisis in Western Europe casts a long shadow. As a result, many banks are taking a closer look at their expense budgets as they consider new IT investments,” said Jeanne Capachin, Vice President of IDC Financial Insights in a statement. “However, there are bright spots as the Middle East remains a strong growth market for financial services technology and the adoption of public cloud services among US Banks has surfaced as a way to innovate despite tight IT spending controls.”

[Related Content: Bank IT Spending Outlook For 2012 ]

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio