EP76: From legacy core to the digital age

Banks need a future-proof digital core banking system to meet rising customer expectations, accelerate innovation, and respond quickly to market and regulatory changes. Traditional monolithic cores are rigid, costly, and unable to support true end-to-end digital transformation, even if modern apps and channels exist. Real transformation requires digitisation across the entire bank, anchored by a modern digital core.Digital Core Banking is built on key principles: hollowing the core to retain it as a system of record, componentised and modular architecture, microservices, cloud readiness, and open banking. This approach enables flexibility, faster product launches, independent upgrades, lower total cost of ownership, and seamless customer-centric experiences. Microservices and cloud platforms allow scalability, resilience, and rapid innovation, while open APIs connect banks with FinTech ecosystems and support regulatory mandates like PSD2.Banks that modernise their core can operate more efficiently, personalise services, and compete with digital challengers. Core transformation is a multi-year journey, but early movers will clearly differentiate themselves from laggards in the digital banking era.