According to a recent industry survey conducted by Volante Technologies, a significant proportion of banks in the EMEA region are planning to replace existing payment systems.

More than half of the respondents anticipate these changes to occur within the next six months, highlighting the urgent need for modernization in the sector.

This insight is part of The Big Survey 2025: Modernising Payments, which is Volante Technologies’ fifth annual report. The research was carried out across eleven countries in May 2025 and gathered responses from key figures in corporate and transaction banking, focusing on payment technology choices.

The survey indicates that nearly all (99%) of the surveyed banks intend to introduce new payment solutions within a year. Among them, around half expect to start these changes within six months. Additionally, budget allocations for modernization appear to be increasing; on average, EMEA banks are planning to allocate approximately USD 1.42 million for payment system improvements in the coming year, with nearly half reporting higher budgets than the previous year.

Operational Resilience and Cost as Key Drivers

Among the external factors driving modernization, cost efficiency and operational resilience emerged as the top priorities. Other influences included competition from fintech companies and increasing customer demands for real-time services.

Many banks are still dependent on outdated systems; roughly 27% rely on legacy technologies for payment processing, including long-standing vendor solutions or internal infrastructures that have been in place for five to ten years or longer.

While the transition to cloud computing is gaining traction, it remains a mixed landscape. Most banks (58%) are using a hybrid model combining both cloud and on-premises infrastructure. Another 25% are still assessing cloud options but are primarily reliant on local systems.

Despite the urgency of modernization efforts, there are concerns about potential disruptions during implementation. About one-third of banks see this as a significant risk, while another third worry about their organization’s readiness to manage such a large-scale transition due to limited internal expertise and knowledge.