A new American Bankers Association survey of banks and core platform providers found that just over half (53%) of bankers are “extremely” or “somewhat” satisfied with their core platform providers. ABA’s Core Platforms Survey, which was released during the 2025 Conference of Community Bankers, also found that 35% of banks are “dissatisfied” with their core processor.
Since 2020, ABA has surveyed bankers every two years to gauge the current state of banks’ relationships with their core service providers. Bankers in the most recent survey rated their overall satisfaction with the core service providers a 3.19 on a scale of 1-5, a modest increase from 3.01 in 2022.
“The survey results show that while we’ve made some important progress, more work remains to improve the relationship banks have with their cores,” ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols said. “ABA remains committed to this important effort.”
Satisfaction by company
For the first time, this year’s report breaks down satisfaction by individual core providers, with the top performer receiving a 4.03 rating on a scale of 1-5. The report also ranks banker satisfaction with core solutions, with some solutions’ satisfaction levels at more than 80% while others are ranked lower than 50%.
One finding was that overall satisfaction declines the longer a bank operates on their current core platform and declines steadily throughout the contract term, dropping to the lowest level as the bank approaches contract renewal.
Banker respondents’ ratings of their core provider’s effectiveness also saw a modest increase from 2.67 in 2022 to 2.78 in 2024.
More banks sticking with their providers
Despite low satisfaction and effectiveness ratings, the survey found that most bankers do not plan to leave their current core platform provider. Sixty-nine percent of respondents are extremely or somewhat likely to remain with their current provider at the next contract renewal, and only 19% of respondents are likely to convert at their next renewal date.
Bankers’ reasons for switching in 2024 are markedly different from 2022. Bankers in 2022 cited a lack of support for integration and products not being current as the drivers in the conversion decision. By contrast, 2024 survey respondents pointed to customer service and disappointment with their current core provider as the key factors behind conversion decisions.
Bankers and core providers were surveyed on the importance and effectiveness of 19 bank success-related attributes. Similar to 2022, banks and core providers show near perfect alignment on the relative importance of core platform attributes to bank success. However, core providers systematically overestimate their effectiveness at delivering those same attributes to their customers, which results in an effectiveness gap. For example, bankers rated core service providers’ overall effectiveness a 2.78 on a scale of 1-5, while the core providers gave themselves a 4.31.
Respondents also were asked about the work of ABA’s Core Platforms Committee, with 93% saying they are aware of the committee and believe its work has encouraged core platform providers to address bank concerns.
