Banking-as-a-service models see significant spending increases

Juniper Research has added up some numbers and reached the conclusion that companies are spending fortunes on tech compliance software.

Juniper said integrating tech with banking-as-a-service (BaaS) models will see spending increase significantly. Already non-banking businesses such as retailers, e-commerce companies and distributors are offering their customers financial products and are taking up BaaS offerings.

Juniper said BaaS models include outsourcing regtech services such as digital onboarding, and it found that 26 percent of digital onboarding processes in the banking market will use artificial intelligence (AI) systems by 2026, compared with just eight percent in 2022.

Juniper research author Harshada Thok said: “While the current benefits of AI are clear to regtech vendors, the immediate focus must be on ensuring the algorithms are fed the most relevant data to maximise their efficiency in verifying digital identities and future use cases. In turn, this will provide a differentiation point for regtech vendors in an increasingly competitive market.”

According to recent interviews with 50 senior business executives and a survey of 1,600 more 85 percent are implementing banking-as-a-service capabilities or plan to do so in the next 18 months.

But to provide these services, they need to be regulated and have access to expensive banking tech, so businesses are instead using financial services offered by banks and fintechs. The application programming interface (API)-driven services are regulated through the bank, which provides the tech infrastructure.

Although the finance sector dominates regtech, demand from new customers of the technology will emerge. According to Juniper, the next growth areas in regtech will be in the healthcare and gambling sectors.

“Regtech vendors must provide verification services in emerging areas where compliance is being disrupted, such as cryptocurrency exchanges, digital healthcare and online gambling”, said the research company.

“Impending changes to regulations in these markets will provide significant opportunities for regtech vendors to broaden their focus beyond financial markets to capitalise on new addressable user bases.”