Management

Amid M&A, Here’s What Financial Firms Need to Do to Integrate IT [#Infographic]

As mergers and acquisitions of banks and credit unions increase, these institutions need to assess and overcome a range of tech challenges.

Phil Goldstein

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Phil Goldstein is a former web editor of the CDW family of tech magazines and a veteran technology journalist. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and their animals: a dog named Brenna, and two cats, Grady and Princess.

A desire for greater scale, lower margins, pressure from regulators and intensified competition from financial tech startups are pushing small and medium-sized banks to merge, according to a new report from the consultancy PwC. Banks are looking to increase their balance sheets and leverage economies of scale.

Meanwhile, according to a survey from Cornerstone Advisors, mergers are a growth priority this year for 40 percent of credit union CEOs.

As these financial firms merge with or acquire others, the IT integration challenges they need to prepare for are many: a lack of visibility into IT systems, inadequate technology integration, how to combine their data, and ensuring compliance with regulations.

To overcome these challenges, banks and credit unions should create a list of standards for IT equipment; develop a timeline for IT integration and work closely with project managers; identify the projects that will take the most time; and deploy asset management solutions.

Take a look at the infographic below to see how financial institutions going through M&A can integrate their technology smoothly.

And read this CDW white paper to learn more about how financial services firms can overcome the technology challenges of mergers and acquisitions.