# Why FIs Extend Their Digital Banking Platforms — and Which Extensions Actually Get Bought

Research date: 2026-08-31. All claims cited inline with data year. Vendor-published numbers are labeled as vendor claims.

## TL;DR

1. Community FI priorities, ranked from 2025–2026 surveys: **deposit growth (banks), younger members (CUs), operational efficiency, fraud/cybersecurity, SMB services, payments modernization** — with AI (48%) and digital banking (38%) the top planned tech investments and 88% raising tech budgets (Jack Henry Strategy Benchmark, Apr 2026).
2. Most-**deployed** extension categories (evidence, not talk): **card controls (~90% of FIs), travel notifications (~75%), bill pay/PFM/credit monitoring (~70%)**, credit score (SavvyMoney alone: 1,500+ FIs, 2025), SMB invoicing (Autobooks, 160+ Banno FIs by 2022), automated savings (Plinqit, $3B deposits 2025).
3. Strongest measurable ROI: **credit score tools (loan-growth case studies), card controls (vendor-claimed 25% fraud-cost cut), self-service skip-a-pay ($100K+/yr fee income at one CU), digital account opening (12% vs 70–80% neobank conversion gap)**.
4. Banno specifics: ~935 FIs, 12M+ users on Banno (2025); plugins = dashboard cards; Jack Henry itself markets the Toolkit for embedded fintech (Autobooks, Array, Atomic, Plinqit).
5. Hype vs reality: PFM historically plateaus at 10–15% user adoption; crypto was bought (650 banks signed with NYDIG, 2021) but usage declined; stablecoins are 70% board-talk, 3% strategy.

## Ranked institution priorities (community banks & credit unions)

Ranking synthesized from the two most relevant annual surveys of community-FI executives.

1. **Deposit growth** — #1 strategic priority for banks at 64% (Jack Henry Strategy Benchmark, 8th annual, 193 execs surveyed Jan–Feb 2026, released Apr 2026: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jack-henrys-annual-survey-of-financial-institutions-highlights-priorities-amid-economic-uncertainty-and-a-new-hybrid-monetary-era-302756018.html). Also #1 for banks in the 2025 edition (149 C-level execs, Jan–Feb 2025: https://www.jackhenry.com/resources/press-releases/annual-survey-of-bank-and-credit-union-executives-reveals-top-priorities-concerns).
2. **Acquiring younger accountholders (Gen Z/Alpha)** — #1 for credit unions at 40% (Jack Henry 2026, same URL). Listed as a top-3 CU concern in 2025 edition too.
3. **Operational efficiency** — top-3 for banks and #1 for CUs in Jack Henry 2025 (URL above); Cornerstone lists it among top 2026 priorities (What's Going On in Banking 2026 PR, Jan 2026: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cornerstone-advisors-whats-going-on-in-banking-research-finds-ai-crypto-and-fraud-are-top-of-mind-for-banking-executives-in-2026-302673696.html).
4. **Fraud & cybersecurity** — leading *concern* (vs. growth priority) in both surveys. Cornerstone 2026: ~40% of banks / ~50% of CUs had elevated fraud losses in 2025; first-party fraud >40% of losses; three-quarters of FIs boosting fraud-prevention budgets (URL above, data year 2025).
5. **Loan growth** — top-3 for banks and CUs (Jack Henry 2025, URL above).
6. **SMB/business services expansion** — 75% of CEOs plan to expand SMB services (Jack Henry 2026); was 80% in the 2025 edition (URLs above).
7. **Payments modernization** — 94% plan new payment services within 2 years; 82% plan tap-to-pay; 47% plan embedding payments in digital banking (Jack Henry 2026, URL above). FedNow was the top payments priority in 2025 (89% adding payment services).
8. **Planned tech investment ranking:** AI 48% (first time #1), **digital banking 38%**, data analytics 32%; 88% will raise tech budgets over 2 years, up from 76% a year earlier (Jack Henry 2026, URL above).
9. Context from Cornerstone WGOIB 2025 (300+ community-FI execs, Jan 2025: https://www.crnrstone.com/gritty-insights/research/whats-going-on-in-banking-2025): optimism decade-high, ~30% planned first-time genAI deployment in 2025, <50% satisfied with core providers, "Big Fintech" seen as biggest competitive threat.
10. Note: **digital account opening remains a chronic gap, not a solved priority** — only ~20% of checking accounts at community FIs originated online in 2024 despite 31% YoY growth (Alkami/Cornerstone Digital Banking Performance Metrics 2025, data year 2024: https://investors.alkami.com/2025-04-16-Alkami-and-Cornerstone-Advisors-Release-New-Digital-Banking-Performance-Metrics-Report; detail via https://www.digitalonboarding.com/resources/blog/cornerstone-2025-digital-banking-takeaways).

## Most-deployed extension categories (adoption evidence)

- **Card controls & alerts — effectively table stakes.** ~90% of FIs offer card management controls; ~75% offer travel notifications (Cornerstone 2025 performance data as summarized by Digital Onboarding, data year 2024: https://www.digitalonboarding.com/resources/blog/cornerstone-2025-digital-banking-takeaways). Ondot claimed 1,000+ banks/CUs offering its card controls as early as 2016 (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ondot-systems-becomes-the-de-facto-standard-in-consumer-driven-card-controls-and-alerts-300344413.html).
- **Credit score / financial wellness — the single most-bought third-party plugin category.** SavvyMoney signed its **1,500th FI partner** (Amerant Bank) in 2025 (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/savvymoney-signs-amerant-bank-as-1-500th-fi-partner-302516769.html); site now claims 1,600+ partners and it raised $225M in Oct 2025 (https://fintech.global/2025/10/28/savvymoney-secures-225m-to-drive-fintech-growth/). Array's FICO partnership was rolled out to **800+ community banks/CUs and 10M registered Banno users** (Mar 2023: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230320005095/en/Array-Partners-with-FICO-to-Address-Growing-Demand-for-Embedded-Finance-Products). ~70% of FIs offer credit monitoring in digital banking (Cornerstone data, 2024, URL above).
- **SMB banking add-ons.** Autobooks was live at **160+ Banno FIs** via the Digital Toolkit by May 2022 (https://www.jackhenry.com/fintalk/fintech-growth-digital-platform-integration-fintalk); passed 100 FI clients in 2021 (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/autobooks-surpasses-100-financial-institution-clients-301293673.html); Jack Henry has since embedded it deeper into Banno and launched Banno Business (Feb 2024: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jack-henry-announces-banno-business-302044321.html). SMB is the top category in Q2's promoted lineup too.
- **Automated savings / deposit growth tools.** Plinqit surpassed **$3B in deposits** for bank clients (Apr 2025: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250408333787/en/Plinqit-Surpasses-$3-Billion-in-Deposits-Unveils-New-Website-to-Help-Banks-Scale-Diversify-Deposit-Growth). Vendor claims: 72% of registrants fund accounts; users save ~$1,400/11 months.
- **Q2 Marketplace composition confirms the category map.** Q2 Innovation Studio promotes six categories: Deposit Growth, SMB, Payments, Fraud/Security, Financial Wellness, Digital Engagement; 300+ FIs use Innovation Studio, 100+ use the SDK, 1,000+ external developers (https://www.q2.com/products/digital-banking/innovation-studio, retrieved 2026). Earlier milestone: 245+ FIs, 80+ fintech partners, >80% of net-new Q2 deals citing Innovation Studio as a decision factor (Jun 2022: https://www.q2.com/company/news/pr/q2-achieves-record-fintech-adoption-by-financial-institutions).
- **Skip-a-payment self-service** — recurring CU feature; increasingly moved from manual/branch to digital self-service (Tyfone/Vibe CU case study: https://tyfone.com/premium-content/vibe-credit-union-empowers-members-with-real-time-loan-skip-relief/; trend piece: https://www.cuinsight.com/skip-a-pay-programs-gain-momentum-as-credit-unions-help-members-navigate-rising-costs/).

## ROI / engagement evidence table

| Category | Evidence | Source (year) |
|---|---|---|
| Credit score (SavvyMoney) | Public Service CU: 12.8% click-to-application, $6M influenced loans funded, +40-pt avg score | Vendor case study, https://www.savvymoney.com/public-service-credit-union-case-study/ (retrieved 2026) |
| Credit score (SavvyMoney) | Wright-Patt CU: +96% loan applications, $12M influenced funded dollars | Vendor case study, https://www.savvymoney.com/wright-patt-credit-union-case-strategic-alignment/ |
| Credit score (Experian via Q2) | Visions FCU: 14,000 members enrolled in credit score; fin-mgmt tool users 1,500 → 40,000 | Q2 PR (2022), https://www.q2.com/company/news/pr/q2-achieves-record-fintech-adoption-by-financial-institutions |
| Card controls (Ondot) | Vendor claims: fraud attempts −50%+, fraud costs −25%, card usage +23%, false declines −16% within a year | Ondot PR/coverage (2016–2019), https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ondot-systems-becomes-the-de-facto-standard-in-consumer-driven-card-controls-and-alerts-300344413.html ; https://www.pymnts.com/mobile/2019/ondot-systems-credit-debit-card-location-controls-fraud/ |
| Skip-a-pay self-service | Vibe CU: $100K+ annual fee revenue, year-round self-service, removed manual bottleneck | Tyfone case study (retrieved 2026), https://tyfone.com/premium-content/vibe-credit-union-empowers-members-with-real-time-loan-skip-relief/ |
| Digital account opening | Community-FI online AO conversion ~12% vs neobank 70–80%; +10 sec ≈ +5% abandonment; MANTL avg app 2m37s | MANTL research/blog (retrieved 2026), https://www.mantl.com/resources/blog/technology-can-close-the-gap/ ; https://www.mantl.com/resources/blog/3-biggest-obstacles-to-a-better-conversion-rate/ |
| Digital AO benchmarks | Digital checking opens = 21% of total (2024, up from 16%); digital application abandonment doubled to 67%; neobanks took 44% of new checking accounts | Alkami/Cornerstone Performance Metrics (2025 report, 2024 data), https://investors.alkami.com/2025-04-16-Alkami-and-Cornerstone-Advisors-Release-New-Digital-Banking-Performance-Metrics-Report |
| Automated savings (Plinqit) | $3B deposits; 72% of registrants fund; avg $1,400 saved/11 months (vendor claims) | Businesswire (2025), https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250408333787/en/ |
| Mobile deposit via Toolkit | Simmons Bank: +59% mobile deposit volume, losses "basically to zero" | Jack Henry marketing case (retrieved 2026), https://banno.com/digital-toolkit/ |
| Self-service call deflection | Generic industry (not FI-specific): live-agent call ~$8–15 vs automated ~$0.10–1; McKinsey: assisted channels 10–20x digital cost | Secondary sources, https://www.parloa.com/knowledge-hub/call-center-cost/ ; treat as directional only |

## Banno-ecosystem specifics

- **Scale:** ~935 FIs and 12M+ registered users on Banno (Jack Henry FY2025 reporting: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/779152/000077915225000019/jkhy-20250331.htm); 10.5M users as of Jan 2024 (Banno Business PR).
- **What a plugin is:** a web app rendered as a **dashboard card** (card face + optional expanded view) in Banno Online/Mobile, hosted on the developer's server, authenticated via Jack Henry's OAuth-based Authentication Framework (https://jackhenry.dev/open-api-docs/plugins/getting-started/).
- **Use cases Jack Henry itself documents for plugins:** SMB invoicing/payment acceptance, crypto & stock investing, credit score tools, PFM, quickly adding financial products (same URL).
- **What Jack Henry markets the Toolkit for:** "seamlessly integrate sought-after fintech"; "the same API Banno itself is built on"; showcased partners Autobooks, Atomic (direct-deposit switch), Array (credit score), Plinqit (savings) (https://banno.com/digital-toolkit/).
- **Catalog:** banno.com/integrations lists 28+ categories (accounting, account opening, card management, lending, payments, crypto, wealth, dispute management, marketing, mortgage, philanthropy...) with strategic partners Plaid/Finicity/MX/Akoya/Alloy/Moov/Autobooks/Array (https://banno.com/integrations/).
- **Precedents for third-party plugin builders:** DeepTarget was among the first fintechs to build a Banno plugin; Autobooks went from "Hello, World" to live users in 60 days on the Toolkit (https://www.jackhenry.com/fintalk/fintech-growth-digital-platform-integration-fintalk, 2022).

## Hype vs reality

- **PFM/budgeting: bought widely, used narrowly.** ~70% of FIs offer PFM-type tools (2024 data, Digital Onboarding/Cornerstone URL above) but historical adoption plateaus at 10–15% of digital users; Shevlin's "PFM delusion" — 80% of consumers don't budget (The Financial Brand, data ~2013–2017: https://thefinancialbrand.com/66526/pfm-usage-adoption-impact-banking). Old data, but no newer source contradicts it.
- **Crypto: bought, then faded.** 650 banks/CUs signed to offer bitcoin via NYDIG/NCR in 2021 (https://cointelegraph.com/news/nydig-set-to-bring-bitcoin-adoption-to-650-us-banks-and-credit-unions); Alkami telemetry then showed crypto-exchange payments *declining* in 2023 vs 2022 (Feb 2024: https://www.alkami.com/news/alkami-telemetry-data-reveals-emerging-tech-adoption-themes/).
- **Stablecoins: board-talk >> action.** 70%+ of boards have discussed stablecoins (Cornerstone 2026) but only 18% plan support by end-2027 and just 3% have a formal strategy (Jack Henry 2026).
- **Digital account opening: perennial priority, persistently broken.** Abandonment *doubled* to 67% in 2024 and community banks won only 4% of new checking accounts vs neobanks' 44% (Alkami/Cornerstone 2025 report, 2024 data). The gap is the opportunity.
- **Subscription management: early but fast-moving** — only 16% of FIs offered it in 2024, projected to double (Digital Onboarding/Cornerstone URL above).
- **AI: top stated investment (48%) but execution gap** — Cornerstone 2026 notes "significant execution gaps persist despite high spending plans."

## Implications for a Trabian Banno plugin demo lineup

- **Lead with deposit/loan growth framing, not "engagement."** Buyers' #1 priorities are deposits (banks, 64%) and younger members (CUs, 40%). A demo should show a card that visibly feeds an account-opening or loan funnel.
- **Credit score is the proven category** (1,500+ FIs pay SavvyMoney; Array pre-wired into Banno) — don't compete head-on; instead demo *adjacent* journeys: pre-qualified loan offers from score data, or write-back flows the incumbents don't do.
- **Self-service write-back journeys have the cleanest ROI story:** skip-a-pay ($100K+/yr fee income at one CU), travel notices, card disputes, address change — efficiency is a top-3 priority and calls cost 10–20x digital.
- **SMB is the most defensible white space:** 75–80% of CEOs plan SMB expansion two years running, Autobooks proves SMB plugins deploy at scale in Banno, and Banno Business is new enough that gaps exist (invoicing done; cash-flow, entitlements, receivables-visibility cards are not).
- **Fraud/security angle sells in 2026:** three-quarters of FIs are raising fraud budgets — a fraud-alert triage or first-party-fraud-friction card rides the budget line that's actually growing.
- **Onboarding/funnel-rescue demo:** with 67% digital-application abandonment, a card that resumes an abandoned application or does in-app document collection targets a measured, universal pain.
- **Avoid pure PFM/budgeting and crypto demos** — the former has a 15-year record of 10–15% usage; the latter's install base peaked in 2021–22 and usage declined.
- **Payments embedding (47% plan it) and FedNow-adjacent flows** are a strong secondary theme for a demo card (e.g., instant-transfer or tap-to-pay enrollment).

## Sources

- Jack Henry Strategy Benchmark 2026 PR (data Jan–Feb 2026) — priorities, tech investment ranking: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jack-henrys-annual-survey-of-financial-institutions-highlights-priorities-amid-economic-uncertainty-and-a-new-hybrid-monetary-era-302756018.html
- Jack Henry Strategy Benchmark 2025 PR (data Jan–Feb 2025) — priorities, concerns: https://www.jackhenry.com/resources/press-releases/annual-survey-of-bank-and-credit-union-executives-reveals-top-priorities-concerns
- Cornerstone WGOIB 2026 PR (Jan 2026) — fraud, AI, stablecoin talk: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cornerstone-advisors-whats-going-on-in-banking-research-finds-ai-crypto-and-fraud-are-top-of-mind-for-banking-executives-in-2026-302673696.html
- Cornerstone WGOIB 2025 (Jan 2025) — genAI, core dissatisfaction: https://www.crnrstone.com/gritty-insights/research/whats-going-on-in-banking-2025
- Alkami/Cornerstone Digital Banking Performance Metrics 2025 (2024 data) — digital AO, bill pay, P2P: https://investors.alkami.com/2025-04-16-Alkami-and-Cornerstone-Advisors-Release-New-Digital-Banking-Performance-Metrics-Report
- Digital Onboarding summary of Cornerstone 2025 data (2024 data) — feature deployment rates, abandonment, checking share: https://www.digitalonboarding.com/resources/blog/cornerstone-2025-digital-banking-takeaways
- SavvyMoney 1,500th FI PR (2025): https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/savvymoney-signs-amerant-bank-as-1-500th-fi-partner-302516769.html ; $225M raise (Oct 2025): https://fintech.global/2025/10/28/savvymoney-secures-225m-to-drive-fintech-growth/ ; case studies: savvymoney.com (URLs inline above)
- Array + FICO / Banno rollout (Mar 2023): https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230320005095/en/Array-Partners-with-FICO-to-Address-Growing-Demand-for-Embedded-Finance-Products
- Q2 Innovation Studio product page (retrieved 2026) — categories, counts: https://www.q2.com/products/digital-banking/innovation-studio ; adoption PR (2022): https://www.q2.com/company/news/pr/q2-achieves-record-fintech-adoption-by-financial-institutions
- Banno Digital Toolkit marketing: https://banno.com/digital-toolkit/ ; integrations catalog: https://banno.com/integrations/ ; plugin docs: https://jackhenry.dev/open-api-docs/plugins/getting-started/
- Jack Henry FinTalk on Toolkit fintechs (May 2022) — Autobooks 160+ FIs, DeepTarget: https://www.jackhenry.com/fintalk/fintech-growth-digital-platform-integration-fintalk
- Jack Henry FY2025 10-Q — Banno scale (~935 FIs, 12M+ users): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/779152/000077915225000019/jkhy-20250331.htm ; Banno Business PR (Feb 2024): https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jack-henry-announces-banno-business-302044321.html
- Autobooks 100 FI clients PR (2021): https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/autobooks-surpasses-100-financial-institution-clients-301293673.html
- Ondot card controls claims (2016/2019): https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ondot-systems-becomes-the-de-facto-standard-in-consumer-driven-card-controls-and-alerts-300344413.html ; https://www.pymnts.com/mobile/2019/ondot-systems-credit-debit-card-location-controls-fraud/
- MANTL conversion research (retrieved 2026): https://www.mantl.com/resources/blog/technology-can-close-the-gap/ ; https://www.mantl.com/resources/blog/3-biggest-obstacles-to-a-better-conversion-rate/
- Tyfone/Vibe CU skip-a-pay case (retrieved 2026): https://tyfone.com/premium-content/vibe-credit-union-empowers-members-with-real-time-loan-skip-relief/
- Plinqit $3B deposits (Apr 2025): https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250408333787/en/Plinqit-Surpasses-$3-Billion-in-Deposits-Unveils-New-Website-to-Help-Banks-Scale-Diversify-Deposit-Growth
- NYDIG 650 banks (2021): https://cointelegraph.com/news/nydig-set-to-bring-bitcoin-adoption-to-650-us-banks-and-credit-unions ; Alkami telemetry crypto decline (Feb 2024): https://www.alkami.com/news/alkami-telemetry-data-reveals-emerging-tech-adoption-themes/
- PFM adoption history (Shevlin, ~2013–2017): https://thefinancialbrand.com/66526/pfm-usage-adoption-impact-banking
- Call-cost benchmarks (generic, secondary): https://www.parloa.com/knowledge-hub/call-center-cost/