Boston, January 19, 2012 – A new report from Aite Group identifies 10 key areas of opportunity for wholesale banking during 2012. It discusses how banks seeking to meet the changing needs of the wholesale-banking market will focus their 2012 technology investments on customer experience, solution usability, and access to critical information.

The years following the 2008 financial crisis were challenging, and 2011 continued that trend. While most banks experienced limited progress on their 2011 initiatives, wholesale banking is well-positioned for growth during 2012 and is likely to enjoy an increase in IT investment dollars compared to recent years. 2012 will allow banks to finish what they started prior to the crisis and to begin implementing some of their back-burner initiatives.

Aite Group analysts forecast the following top 10 trends for 2012:

• Continued focus on risk management, fraud, and compliance
• Increased investment in cash management and supporting technologies
• Implementation of next-generation corporate portals
• Supply-chain-finance (SCF) automation
• Focus on the customer experience
• New treasury management systems (treasury intelligence management systems)
• Connecting with small-business customers
• Improvement of the payments process
• Continuation of business-financing challenges
• Concerns about liquidity management

“While the financial services industry is emerging from the global financial crisis and resulting recession at a slower pace than expected, 2012 promises greater opportunity for wholesale-banking growth than the last few years,” says Christine Barry, research director with Aite Group and co-author of this report. “Technology will play a crucial role in helping banks take advantage of these growth opportunities.”

This 34-page Impact Note contains 11 figures and two tables. Clients of Aite Group’s Wholesale Banking service can download the report.