85% of Financial Firms Say Processes Will Struggle as Volumes Surge

WHY THIS MATTERS: This AutoRek research exposes a systemic failure in the financial sector’s ability to execute its growth mandate. With transaction volumes set to spike by nearly a third over the next two years, the underlying operational infrastructure of capital markets firms is revealed to be perilously dependent on manual processes and spreadsheet workarounds. The true significance lies in the connection between scaling new opportunities—like the complexity introduced by digital assets—and fundamental weaknesses in internal controls. The industry’s reliance on ‘firefighting’ preventable errors, which consumes 16% of the operations budget, creates a severe constraint on innovation. This is no longer an efficiency problem; it’s a critical compliance and solvency risk. Forward-looking institutions must treat investment in robust, data-first AI-enabled automation as mandatory, or risk falling into a cycle of regulatory failure and unscalable growth.

Financial services firms are underprepared for a surge in transaction volumes, with compliance failures, operational losses and revenue risk on the line. New research from AutoRek reveals that 85% of firms say their current operational processes already struggle, or would struggle, to keep pace as volumes grow, and with a 28% increase expected over the next two years, the pressure is only mounting.

AutoRek’s 2026 Investment Capital Markets Survey, based on 250 interviews with senior finance sector managers across the UK and U.S., reveals a widening gap between growth expectations and operational readiness. Average daily transaction volumes now exceed 460,000 per firm, while digital assets, identified as the most operationally challenging asset class, add new layers of complexity.

“According to our data, firms are short of operational alignment,” said Jack Niven, Vice President of North America at AutoRek. “When volumes are rising and digital assets are introducing new layers of complexity, then manual processes and spreadsheet workarounds simply cannot scale. The organizations that will lead over the next five years are those investing in AI-enabled automation built on clean, normalized data foundations. That’s what allows operations teams to move from firefighting to forward planning.”

Growth ambitions collide with operational reality

Despite ongoing transformation efforts, 82% of firms acknowledge that a substantial proportion of operational processes remain manual, and more than half still rely on spreadsheets to some extent for reconciliations. As transaction volumes climb and product offerings expand, legacy systems and fragmented data environments are limiting firms’ ability to scale efficiently.

The consequences are tangible. Compliance risk, operational inefficiency and data integrity concerns persist across operations, particularly as regulatory expectations intensify in both the UK and U.S. markets.

Manual workarounds drain budget and constrain innovation

On average, firms spend nearly 16% of their operational budgets correcting issues caused by manual processes. Rather than investing in scalable automation, many organizations remain locked in cycles of remediation, allocating time and resources to fix preventable errors instead of enabling growth.

With digital assets increasing operational complexity and regulatory scrutiny showing no signs of easing, firms face mounting pressure to strengthen data foundations and modernize reconciliation processes.

The research indicates that automation is no longer a forward-looking ambition but an operational necessity. Firms that prioritize scalable data management and intelligent automation will be better positioned to absorb volume growth, reduce risk and support innovation, while those reliant on manual controls risk falling further behind.

FF NEWS TAKE: This data confirms that the operational gap is an industry-wide crisis, making intelligent automation an immediate necessity, not a luxury. While some firms continue to cling to legacy systems, the complexity of managing digital assets makes reconciliation errors prohibitively costly. The market will soon stratify: leaders will be defined by their clean data foundations and automated processes, while laggards will face perpetual compliance headaches and budget drain. The next critical metric to track is how quickly firms transition that 16% remediation spend into core automation investment

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