Corporate banking stands at a crossroads. Relying on batch-based systems built up over decades, the sector faces an imperative to modernize. But how?
In a recent webinar, industry experts explored the benefits of breaking free from batch-based processing, and why core transformation is foundational to enabling real-time capabilities.
Meet the experts
Corporate banking: the forgotten child of digitalization
The panelists gave an in-depth low-down on the drawbacks of batch-based processing and why corporate banking is still lagging behind retail and SME banks when it comes to customer experience.
“Corporate banks are at the start of a journey that retail banks have been on for the last 10 years,” Peter Timmins, VP Client Accounts & Partnerships at 10x, explained. “But now corporate treasurers are demanding more and more from their banks. They’re going to demand further and further increases in that digital capability from their banks.”
Corporate banks are at the start of a journey that retail banks have been on for the last 10 years. But now corporate treasurers are demanding more and more from their banks.
Peter Timmins VP Client Accounts & Partnerships, 10xThat demand means that corporate banks – for so long the ‘forgotten child of digitalization’, as Antonio Camacho Hubner put it – need to act now or risk losing customers to those who do offer the benefits of real-time processing: scalability and speed of transaction volumes, visibility into cash positions, and seamless integration with their own systems.
Clean data, real time: enabling the full potential of AI
As expected, AI was a key topic of discussion. Nish Dharmaratne, GTM FS Lead at AWS, shared the most practical applications AWS are seeing right now: “Three use cases for AI in corporate banking we are seeing work well right now: credit and lending decisioning, risk management – whether that’s financial crime risk or non-financial crime risk management – and the customer experience layer.”
There was consensus over the potential benefits of AI to corporate banking operations, but many banks are not in a position to take full advantage.
"In order to use AI, you need to have the right data. Data and real-time together are the enablers of AI,” Antonio Camcho Hubner explained. As the discussion turned to enabling the full potential of AI, the panelists were all agreed that clean, high-quality, real-time data is essential to the process.
AI is the opportunity, but having the right core banking system behind it is where you leverage the power of it.
Nish Dharmaratne, GTM FS Lead, AWSAnd Nish told the audience where that real-time data must come from: “AI is the opportunity, but having the right core banking system behind it is where you leverage the power of it.”
Most corporate banks built their systems on legacy infrastructure from the 1970s to 1990s. While they recognize the need to modernize and move to agile, cloud-native cores, the complexity and risk of such a transformation have held them back. Yet today, the risk of standing still far outweighs the risk of change.
Why core transformation is essential for corporate banks
Peter explained, banks need to start with a cloud-native, real-time core ledger that can support both current and future needs.
This isn’t a simple “big bang” migration; successful banks are now adopting dual-core approaches, running new technology stacks alongside legacy systems, and gradually migrating services and clients. This phased approach minimizes risk and disruption while delivering incremental business value.
A modern core enables banks to:
- Process high transaction volumes in real time
- Integrate seamlessly with client systems via APIs
- Support advanced AI and analytics use cases
- Adapt quickly to regulatory and market changes
The time to act is now
Corporate banking is at a turning point. As client expectations evolve and real-time capabilities become the norm, banks must move beyond legacy systems to stay competitive. The next wave of innovation will be driven by clean, real-time data, intelligent automation, and agile core platforms that can adapt at speed.
Breaking free from batch is just the beginning. The real opportunity lies in reimagining client journeys, harnessing AI, and building a future-ready core that enables continuous innovation.
For corporate banks, the message is clear: the time to act is now.
Watch the webinar recording
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