So what exactly is tech bloat, and how can you slim down your stack? Read on to find out more.

Referring to the excessive accumulation of outdated, redundant, or highly complex tech systems that weigh down an organization, tech bloat in financial services is becoming increasingly common. This phenomenon stems from a variety of causes, but the biggest tends to be an abundance of legacy systems that have been patched and repurposed over the years. Of course many financial services providers require very specific needs to be addressed (including everything from core banking systems and risk assessment models, to cybersecurity software, workflow automation, customer relationship management, financial planning and forecasting, data sources, fraud prevention, loan origination systems, and payment processing). As the list of needs (and related tech) grows with your organization, so does the bloat.

But many of the software solutions you have will overlap in functionality, leading to inefficiencies in both operation and cost. A survey by Freshworks shared that “54% of IT professionals say their organization pays for software” that never gets used. And often these systems are not integrated with each other very well, creating numerous silos of information, complicating workflows, and making data access tricky. Not to mention the fact that extensive customizations and add-ons over the years, while useful at first, can quickly turn into burdens, limiting flexibility and making maintenance and updates difficult. And of course those updates are critical, because with constant regulatory shifts, financial institutions do regularly need to update their systems, which can result in a quickly tangled web of temporary fixes that, you guessed it, add more bloat (not to mention leave you more vulnerable to everything from data breaches to lapses in compliance).

Any of these consequences should be enough to address your tech bloat problem, but put them all together and you can see it’s not just about security or reducing operational costs – it’s fundamental to unlocking your potential for sustained innovation and sustainable growth. Streamlining your tech infrastructure allows you to overcome these challenges and position yourself for future success and customer loyalty.

Consider the case of Provenir customer NewDay. Some of their existing systems were proving costly in terms of release times and updates, and were due for decommissioning. By implementing a more holistic decisioning solution, they were able to significantly reduce processing time and improve quote response times.

Part of fighting the bloat battle is selecting the right technology partner – one that can enable flexibility, scalability, and an end-to-end platform that you can build and grow your business on. Provenir’s AI-Powered Decisioning Platform brings together the key capabilities you need to turn decisioning into a differentiator, allowing you to deploy accurate, fully automated decisioning across the lifecycle, while also gaining actionable insights to optimize strategies and enhance performance across the entire organization. Featuring solutions for data, decisioning, case management, and decision intelligence, across onboarding, fraud & identity, customer management and collections, Provenir’s platform is a one-stop solution that eliminates silos, brings teams together, and enables sustainable, customer-centric growth.