FIS Drives Core Banking Modernization as De Novo Launches and M&A Activity Surge

Quick Summary

FIS is addressing the critical need for core banking modernization as financial institutions face a surge in de novo bank launches and rapid industry consolidation. By offering a component-based enterprise strategy, FIS enables banks to integrate AI and digital capabilities without the risks of traditional rip-and-replace transformations.

How is FIS supporting the rise of de novo banks?

FIS has demonstrated significant momentum by signing five de novo banks in the first half of 2026 alone. A primary example is Mercury, a fintech serving over 300,000 startups, which selected FIS as its core platform after receiving conditional OCC approval for a national bank charter. This trend highlights that modern, scalable infrastructure is now a day-one requirement for new entrants seeking to compete in a highly regulated environment. By providing regulatory rigor and resilience, FIS allows these new institutions to establish a flexible technology stack that can grow alongside their customer base.

What role does FIS play in banking industry consolidation?

As U.S. bank M&A activity strengthens—with 2025 seeing the highest monthly deal counts in years—FIS has emerged as the preferred partner for large-scale integrations. The company recently secured a core banking relationship for a newly merged institution holding over $100 billion in assets. FIS provides the operational scale and execution certainty required when two complex organizations combine their technology environments. This capability is essential for core banking modernization during mergers, ensuring that the resulting entity maintains operational resilience while pursuing long-term growth and innovation.

How can large incumbents modernize without disruption?

For the largest financial institutions, FIS is shifting the paradigm from disruptive transformations to progressive modernization. This strategy allows banks to incrementally adopt AI and modern digital capabilities while preserving the stability of their existing core systems. Currently, two top fifteen U.S. banks have completed proofs of value for this "evergreen" path. By focusing on component-based models, FIS helps these giants accelerate innovation and improve resiliency with significantly lower execution risk than traditional methods. This approach ensures that core banking modernization remains a continuous, value-driven process rather than a one-time, high-risk event.

"We are modernizing our platforms and delivering new capabilities that are winning business from new entrant banks to large, established incumbents. This enables a flexible, modern, technology stack without sacrificing the resilience and regulatory rigor expected from a banking platform," said Peter Boyer, Co-President of Banking at FIS.

“Banks are moving through a period of rapid change, with rising expectations for resilience, speed, digital capability and modernization without disruption,” said Stephanie Ferris, CEO and President, FIS. “FIS is built for this moment. Our core banking franchise, scale and enterprise platform strategy position us to help institutions launch, consolidate and modernize with the infrastructure they need to move faster and compete with confidence.”

FF NEWS TAKE:

The banking sector is currently trapped between legacy debt and the urgent need for AI-readiness. FIS is making a bold play by positioning core banking modernization as an evolutionary rather than revolutionary process. Their success with both high-growth fintechs like Mercury and $100B+ incumbents suggests that the industry is finally moving away from the 'big bang' migration model. This shift is a major needle-mover for operational stability across the global financial system.