Executives from tech-forward financial institutions at Bank Automation Summit Fall 2022 last week addressed the industry’s evolving technology environment, including moves to the cloud, strategies to reuse code and leveraging data to improve overall client and employee experience.

Some key takeaways from the event:

Cloud compliance is a journey

Regulators and banks in overwhelming numbers are embarking on cloud migration, one example being Truist’s decision to leverage ISO 20022 for cloud development. At the same time, banks also must consider how to maintain compliance when integrating new technologies.

“Regulators, especially at my size of a company, are learning as well and so they ask us for advice, and we’re happy to partner with them. But it’s new regulations that are coming out — and when you look at customer privacy regulations that are coming out, you’ve got to apply that into this flow as well,” Bryce Elliott, the $532 billion bank’s wholesale chief information officer, said during a panel discussion.

At $839 billion BMO Financial Group, cloud migration is centered around training, according to U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer Victor Tung.

“We did a lot of reengineering, retraining people and how they actually think outside of their own verticals outside of how they actually operate,” Tung said.

Reusing code to reduce data sprawl

Reusability can help to reduce the number of outside technology providers at banks, which can mitigate data sprawl and eliminate unnecessary technologies.

“One of the concerns I have … as a CIO is … data sprawl,” Jayson Callies, executive vice president and chief information and innovation officer at the $751 million Seattle Bank, said during a panel discussion. “It’s really about controlling that we didn’t have a single source and making sure you have the right computer that and runs your processes in efficient ways.”

Truist, too, is leveraging reusability, Elliott said. “Our strategy is: let’s consume those microservices ourselves before we make them available for our clients and other outside providers. That helps obviously, test and learn and grow,” he said.

Leveraging data to improve CX

Banks are also looking to improve customer experience by leaning on data collection, new technologies and human resources.

“We’re trying to create simplicity for clients,” Ken Meyer, chief information and experience officer at Truist, said during a panel discussion. “How do we leverage data and analytics to think differently, so that we’re not treating every single application, regardless of size or risk tolerance, the same necessarily.”

At $139 billion KeyBank, technology is not inherently a problem-solver but rather an enabler that fixes issues that may arise, Chief Information Officer Dominic Cugini said during a panel.

“This might be unpopular, but in my opinion, technology doesn’t solve anything. But technology can enable solutions,” Cugini said.