Two-thirds of U.S. bank senior executives are confident in their banks’ growth prospects, with three in five saying they plan to increase headcount in the next year, according to a new survey by KPMG. At the same time, 38% of respondents said their institutions plan to acquire another bank or banks over the next year.
Among its findings, the survey found that 37% of respondents expected their loan losses to increase in 2024, with the same percentage expecting their losses to remain the same and 26% expecting them to decrease. Also, executives listed cybersecurity as their top risk over the next three years, followed by interest rates, emerging or disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence, credit, and geopolitics and political uncertainty.
Respondents were also asked which investments their institutions were prioritizing in 2024. Data-driven insights and personalization were the top priority, followed by security and fraud prevention, regulatory compliance and risk management, and digital customer experience enhancement. At the same time, 66% of respondents said their banks are using generative artificial intelligence systems either in the pilot or production phase to enhance cybersecurity.
