Results are in from Synechron’s recent survey of financial services decision-makers; and, for the wide majority of respondents, the future potential for blockchain applications is looking highly promising.
On February 9th, global consulting and technology firm and blockchain solutions specialist Synechron published the results of its recent survey of more than 200 senior-level, financial services business and IT decision-makers from across the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe. According to the results from a survey conducted by TABB Group, 89% of senior executives blockchain will be an everyday part of financial services by 2026. Although levels of blockchain initiative activity have been varied, results do suggest that the majority of financial services firms believe in the long-term, innovative potential of blockchain solutions.
Results of Synechron’s survey showed that 94% of respondents believe that boards have bought into blockchain development projects. Surprisingly, and although more than 85% believe they have sufficient budget to implement blockchain projects, only 70% of respondents believe that their organization currently possesses the human resources and talent capable of implementing blockchain technology.
Although there are still many challenges present, the survey did find that more than two-thirds of companies are actively engaging in blockchain initiatives. In addition to this, just under one in five (16.7%) have identified a use case for blockchain tech. Global Payments, KYC, and Trade Finance are the use cases that firms are most interested in operationalising with blockchain. Approximately 23% of surveyed respondents reported participation in working groups related to blockchain tech, and around 15% of respondents had already built a pilot blockchain application with their own firm or through a counterparty.
When questioned about regulation, nearly 25% of respondents stated that they were awaiting regulatory guidance on blockchain before taking action. Although regulatory compliance serves as a barrier to action, only 16.7% of firms cited this as an issue. Firms are more interested in addressing the uncertainties and limitations surrounding blockchain, such as interoperability, privacy, and scalability.
“It is clear that many financial services firms are either seriously considering how to utilize blockchain within their organization or are already putting this technology into practice. However, with any new technology there are challenges to be overcome. Our survey shows that recruiting the right people is one such challenge, regulation is another, and technical considerations related to the technology itself another. Companies will need to assess carefully how they approach each individually, and this will require knowledge across these areas to make the most strategic decision on how to proceed and to take action.” Synechron CEO, Faisal Husain
OVERVIEW: KEY FINDINGS
- 89% of senior executives believe blockchain will be in everyday use in the financial services industry by 2026
- 94% believe boards have bought into developing blockchain projects
- 87% believe they have enough budget to implement blockchain projects
- 70% do not believe their organizations currently have enough talent capable of implementing blockchain technology
- 67.4% are actively engaging in blockchain technology
- 25% are waiting for regulatory guidance on blockchain before implementing it
- Only 16.7% of respondents cited regulatory guidance as an issue they’re most interested in seeing solved; whereas 29.3% said their most important issue is interoperability, 20.9% said privacy, and 20.5% scalability.
