European banks still expect to increase their investments further in customer relationship management (CRM) solutions despite having already spent considerable sums on CRM over the past two years, according to a new report by independent market analysts Datamonitor.
The report, "IT Efficiency in Financial Services: European Financial Services Technology Survey 2002" reveals 42 per cent of retail banks surveyed are still increasing their spending on CRM. This makes CRM the most significant area of growth in technology spending for banks in 2002, says Datamonitor.
Seventeen per cent of banks say they will not increase spending in any area of IT this year.
James Adams, Datamonitor technology analyst, says: "It is surprising to see banks still ramping up CRM investments. It reflects the fact that many institutions are yet to see value from their CRM systems and feel more work is needed before the full potential of the investment they have already made is realised."
The report shows that while institutions in insurance and the investment sector also view CRM as a priority, the necessity of cost savings make it harder for them to justify spending on CRM.