A majority of U.S. bank executives said they have seen an increase in the number of cyberattacks on their institutions in the past year and have boosted their cybersecurity budgets as a result, according to the most recent banking technology survey by professional services firm KPMG.
Roughly three in four executives (76%) said their banks have experienced an increase in cyberattacks, according to the survey. Nearly all respondents (92%) said they have increased their budgets to address cyber risk, with most (84%) having increased their budgets to specifically address risks posed by artificial intelligence.
The top emerging threats for banks include AI-introduced vulnerabilities in code (63%), deepfakes (62%), AI bots (57%) and securing agentic technologies (50%), KPMG said. As a result, banks are implementing regular audits (80%), robust security measures (79%) and collaborating with external experts (59%).
The survey also found that most respondents (77%) cited technology as a key factor in driving bank mergers and acquisitions. The technology-related objectives deemed most important when evaluating M&A opportunities were acquiring data, analytics or AI capabilities (67%), strengthening cybersecurity or risk capabilities (65%), accelerating core banking platform modernization (46%) and expanding digital or customer experience capabilities (45%).
The biggest technology integration risks in M&A include core banking platforms (56%), cybersecurity and identity access management (55%), data architecture and integration (51%), and regulatory or risk technology (50%). In contrast, payments platforms were seen as low risk (4%).
