SaaScada<\/a>, the cloud-native data-driven core banking engine, released new research revealing a widening gap between banks\u2019 agentic AI ambitions and their ability to execute, as legacy systems, fragmented data and manual processes continue to dominate key operational processes.<\/p>\n\u201cTrying to build AI on ancient legacy foundations is like racing an Aston Martin over cobblestones \u2013 it\u2019s going to be a bumpy ride,\u201d\u00a0said Steve Round, Co-Founder and President at SaaScada.\u00a0\u201cIf banks are serious about getting ahead with AI, they need data and core systems that are fit for purpose. Otherwise, all the ambition in the world won\u2019t translate into results.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the biggest challenges that banks face is that they are still heavily reliant on manual processes. Just\u00a0one in ten\u00a0banks fully automate key operational tasks, such as processing:<\/p>\n
Standing orders, scheduled payments and direct debits\u00a0(10%)
\nDaily interest accrual and interest posting\u00a0(11%)
\nAccount maturity instructions (13%)
\nScheduled interest rate changes\u00a0(13%)<\/p>\n
More than a third\u00a0\u2013 between 37% and 42% \u2013 still rely heavily on manual processes and exception handling to complete these tasks.<\/p>\n
Overall,\u00a061%\u00a0of respondents (57-63%) find such tasks very or extremely painful in terms of cost, manual effort and risk. There is also direct correlation between perceived pain and reliance on manual processes:<\/p>\n
85%\u00a0of those who have minimal automation reported finding these processes very or extremely painful in terms of cost, manual effort and risk
\n55%for those with some automation, but regular manual oversight
\nAnd\u00a00%for those who fully automate\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBanks can\u2019t expect to innovate with agentic AI if they are still mired in manual processes,\u201d\u00a0commented Paul Payne, CTO at SaaScada.\u00a0\u201cThe priority must be maturing the infrastructure and driving automation first. Only then can banks layer in AI and start to see real operational gains.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report,\u00a0Who\u2019s Ready for Agentic AI in Banking, includes findings from a survey of\u00a0150 UK banking innovation leaders.\u00a0It shows that banks overwhelmingly believe agentic AI will reshape the industry, but very few are operationally ready to take advantage of it:<\/p>\n
Around 91%believe agentic AI will enable entirely new ways of designing banking services. Yet only\u00a031%\u00a0are actively deploying\u00a0any type\u00a0of AI in core operational or decision-making processes.
\nOver\u00a0\u00a077%cite legacy systems restricting data availability, poor data quality\u00a0(77%)\u00a0and difficulty accessing real-time data\u00a0(71%)\u00a0as\u00a0significantly\u00a0limiting their ability to adopt AI.\u00a0\u00a0
\nAbout\u00a0\u00a0\u00a079%believe that without high-quality, explainable data, AI could worsen financial exclusion, rather than improve it.\u00a0But only\u00a012%\u00a0are very confident their organisation could clearly explain and justify AI-driven decisions to regulators today.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Puja Sharma Today Agentic AI AI AI automation Agentic AI Ambitions Expose Banking\u2019s Manual Operations Problem SaaScada…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[179,7493,24,1365,30093,3685,545,9568,34274],"class_list":["post-59020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-agentic-ai","tag-agentic-ai","tag-agentic-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-ai-automation","tag-core-banking","tag-cross-border-payments","tag-digital-transformation","tag-fintech-news","tag-saascada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"AI](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AI-Banking.jpg\")
Agentic AI Ambitions Expose Banking\u2019s Manual Operations Problem<\/p>\n