Speed without clarity is simply chaos.

In July 2025, Arizent surveyed 100 banking professionals at institutions with $750 million to $50 billion in assets to understand how community banks and credit unions manage change and leverage data to make faster, more confident decisions. The findings reveal a critical gap: while banks have gotten better at incremental, tactical changes, strategic transformation remains frustratingly slow.

The research uncovers three defining challenges:

• Siloed data is strangling decision-making. 75% of institutions cite fragmented data sources as a primary barrier, while 56% can't access real-time information when they need it most. For 44%, the process of collecting and analyzing data is so slow it's not worth the effort.
• Leadership and frontline teams see different realities. Executives believe they're moving decisively, while non-executive staff report being blocked by hierarchy and lack of access to the information driving strategic decisions. Without shared visibility, change feels like a mandate rather than momentum.
• Timely means right now — not tomorrow. 64% of respondents say they need data in real-time or within a few hours to make effective decisions. Yet most institutions are still wrestling with cores, legacy systems, and manual reporting processes that can't deliver at that speed.

Download the full report to discover how leading institutions are unlocking decision velocity, building trust across teams, and turning data access into a competitive advantage.