A recent industry survey by Volante Technologies has shown that almost all banks in the EMEA region are planning to update their current payment systems.

More than half of the respondents anticipate making these changes within the next six months, highlighting a significant push towards modernizing payment infrastructures.

The study is part of The Big Survey 2025: Modernising Payments, the fifth annual report from Volante Technologies. It was conducted in May 2025 across eleven countries in the region and gathered insights from senior banking officials involved in corporate and transaction banking.

The survey reveals that 99% of the surveyed banks intend to introduce new payment solutions within the next year. Among them, about 52% plan to act within six months. Additionally, the budgets for these initiatives appear to be increasing; on average, EMEA banks are aiming to spend around USD 1.42 million on payment modernization in the coming year, with nearly half reporting a rise in their budgets compared to last year.

Operational resilience and cost cited as primary drivers

Besides regulatory pressures such as SEPA Instant Payments and SWIFT ISO 20022 deadlines, which are approaching, the main external motivations for modernization were cost efficiency and operational resilience. Other factors included competitive pressure from fintech companies and growing customer expectations for real-time payment capabilities.

Many banks continue to use legacy systems, with about 27% still relying on outdated technologies. These include both long-standing vendor solutions and internally developed infrastructure dating back five to ten years or more.

The shift to cloud adoption is mixed; a majority of the banks (58%) are using a hybrid model combining cloud and on-premises infrastructure. Another 25% are still evaluating cloud options, relying primarily on on-premise systems.

Despite the urgency, concerns about the implementation process remain prevalent. Approximately one-third of banks see potential disruption as a key risk, while another third worry about whether their organizations have the necessary internal skills and knowledge to manage such large-scale transitions.