Spending on IT by banks in North American will rise at a steady clip over the next two years after a rocky 2012, according to Celent.
According to the research house, banks in the region will fork out US$56.9 billion on technology in 2013, four per cent up on the US$54.7 billion spent last year. In 2014 the rate of growth will accelerate slightly, up another 4.4%, to $59.4 billion.
This represents an improvement on the 2.4% rise in 2012 and Celent's own prediction a year ago that 2013 growth would be just 2.9%.
In its report, Celent points to encouraging growth in retail banking spending while digital channels and payments have strong funding and new investment is creeping up.
With that said, it's not all smooth sailing; wholesale banking spending growth rates will be lower than those of the last few years, and compliance, regulation, and maintenance are still tying up much of IT budgets.
Jacob Jegher, senior analyst, banking group, Celent, says: "Banks are still unable to escape the maintenance conundrum, but fortunately the allocation to new investments is on the rise. Most banks are chipping away at a laundry list of enhancements and strategic initiatives that they would like to take on."