Two-thirds of US retail and commercial banks with assets of at least $3 billion outsource one or more business functions, according to an Accenture survey of 30 financial executives.
Of the 20 banks that outsource, 75% reported outsourcing credit card processing and 40% reported outsourcing mortgage processing - two key service areas in which an outsourcer could potentially interact directly with a bank's customers.
Eighty-five percent of the banks that outsource reported that they are either "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their outsourcing partners, with the average satisfaction rating of all banks surveyed being 4.4 on a five-point scale, where "5" is "very satisfied."
Two-thirds of executives expect outsourcing activity at their companies to remain at current levels over the next 12 months, while one in five expect an increase in outsourcing during that time.
Of the one-third of banks that reported not outsourcing any internal or external functions, 50 percent say they have sufficient staff to manage all functions internally, and 40 percent don't believe it will be cost-effective. Almost one in three of the refuseniks fear a loss of control over key business functions.