Benchmark Experts Discuss the Opportunities Ahead With 2024 in the rearview mirror, what can you expect in 2025? Growth. Last year, it might have been prudent to take a wait and see approach due to high interest rates and the uncertainty of the presidential election. Twenty twenty-five, however, is the year to take decisive action to drive growth and safeguard financial stability as you face heightened competition for deposits. In fact, 58% of bank leaders expect asset growth of 5% or more. Our experts, who advise both retail and commercial banking leaders on ways to leverage managed services to achieve key business outcomes, offer unique insights that can help you make the right moves to lead in your market. Agile Resources After a Merger or Acquisition Will Ensure SuccessEdie Davis, Account Executive In 2024, we saw several bank mergers and we anticipate there will be a significant increase in M&A activity this year. These deals put a lot of pressure on internal teams, who may not have the speed and agility to implement the most cost-effective approaches to combining and optimizing operations. When these projects are properly orchestrated, financial institutions save money and time and gain better control of the technology involved. Looking ahead to 2025, we anticipate more banks and credit unions will need additional resources to onboard their newly acquired customers or branches. These projects are best handled by partners like Benchmark, with proven practices and processes, including nationwide resources and a logistics infrastructure to manage device fulfillment and onsite technology installations Digital Transformation Will Define 2025Robert Haran, Senior Account Executive  The past year highlighted the importance of innovation and customer-centricity in retail banking. Banks must continue to embrace digital transformation, prioritize cybersecurity, and respond to evolving customer needs to stay competitive in a rapidly changing landscape. In 2025, growth from the treasury management sector will be the salient focus for commercial FIs as SMEs benefit from the favorable economic conditions of the new administration and the anticipated lower interest rates. Most treasury departments are resourced strained and will need to work with a managed services provider, like Benchmark, to deliver the innovative solutions their commercial clients need. Banks Will Return to Growth ModeAaron Hodge, Sales Manager  2024 was a very interesting year working with financial institutions. Once the election season was over, we started to see a significant spike in high value deal closures and a renewed interest in relaunching delayed projects. I would think that this trend will continue into Q1 2025 and extend throughout the year. Leveraging managed services to support treasury products and solutions seems to be on the rise. With the increased demand for TM banking, there is a need to be able to expedite the onboarding process. Outsourcing client enablement services helps FIs focus their TMOs on assisting clients. We offer the onboarding and technical support a treasury department can leverage to optimize experiences throughout the client relationship. M&A activity seems to have picked up toward the latter half of 2024 and in my opinion will be strong in 2025, with medium to large banks being sold or merging to form larger banks. A Hypercompetitive Environment Will Shift the Focus to Technology Standardization and Revenue GenerationStephanie Johnson, Senior Account Executive  Upcoming changes to economic policies and relaxed regulations will prompt an increase in mergers and acquisitions across all bank sizes. As a result, banks may need to standardize both branch and remote deposit hardware and software. Updated check scanning technologies as well as services such as positive pay, will increase in popularity to improve the customer experience and decrease fraud. Partnering with an IT outsourcing company to assist with standardizations, conversions, positive pay, and customer surveys will allow banks to focus their team on revenue generation. Customer Experience Will Matter More Than EverNikki Picklesimer, Senior Account Executive  I am looking forward to the opportunities 2025 will bring! With inflation and interest rates easing over the last 6 months, I think we will see more activity in mergers and acquisitions. Treasury departments continue to struggle with shortages of technical talent. As a result, Treasury Management leaders are increasingly turning to managed services providers for fulfillment, onboarding, conversions and help desk support. By offloading technical support to a trusted partner, treasury departments can deploy their internal resources to strengthen client relationships, cross-selling and up-selling, and developing innovative products and services. At Benchmark, we specialize in delivering the best client experiences on behalf of the banks and credit unions we work with. I am excited to partner with them in 2025 to make sure their clients get top notch service! Seize the MomentPrepare to thrive in 2025. We’re ready to help our customers succeed in this dynamic and challenging environment. Through our managed services, we can help you increase your operational efficiency and implement cutting edge solutions without overburdening your internal teams. That means you can focus on growth and success as competition heats up. Contact us today.
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