FIS wins core banking deals as US lenders modernise

FIS has won core banking mandates from a newly formed US bank with more than USD $100 billion in assets and from five new bank charters, reflecting fresh demand from lenders launching, merging and upgrading their banking systems.

The mandates span three areas of activity in the US banking market: de novo bank formation, consolidation among established lenders and technology upgrades at large institutions.

FIS signed five de novo banks in the first half of the year. Among them is Mercury, the fintech serving more than 300,000 startups and entrepreneurs, which has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national bank charter and approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for deposit insurance.

The win gives FIS a role in Mercury's plan to establish a fully licensed, FDIC-insured bank. FIS argued that newer institutions are seeking regulated infrastructure from the outset as they move from application to launch.

Industry figures cited by FIS point to a broader revival in new bank creation. FDIC approvals for deposit insurance applications reached 14 in the 12 months through April 2026, double the total for calendar year 2025, according to the company.

Merger demand

FIS also said it had secured the core banking relationship for a newly created institution with more than USD $100 billion in assets, though it did not identify the bank.

The deal comes as consolidation accelerates across the sector. Figures cited from S&P Global Market Intelligence show US bank merger and acquisition activity strengthened in 2025, with July recording the highest monthly deal count since 2021.

The same data also show closing times have shortened. Median closing timelines for deals announced in 2025 fell to 131 days from 185 days in 2024, suggesting acquirers are moving faster to complete integrations and settle core infrastructure choices.

Core banking systems sit at the centre of those decisions because they hold the deposits, accounts and balances that underpin day-to-day bank operations. When banks combine, choosing one core platform over another can shape integration costs, product delivery and operating continuity.

FIS said its installed base among larger institutions has historically benefited from merger activity because combined banks tend to favour systems already used at scale. It framed the latest win as evidence that large institutions still prefer established providers when integrating complex operations.

Modernisation path

FIS also used the announcement to argue for gradual modernisation rather than wholesale replacement of older bank technology. Some of the biggest lenders, it said, want to update systems in stages while keeping their existing core environment in place.

Two of the top 15 US banks have completed proofs of value tied to this approach, according to FIS. The company described the model as a component-based strategy that lets banks add newer tools, including artificial intelligence applications, without replacing the entire core at once.

For large incumbents, that pitch addresses a long-standing problem. Banks often face a trade-off between introducing new customer-facing services and preserving the stability of long-established internal platforms that run accounts and payments.

Beyond the core system itself, FIS said core banking wins often lead to sales of adjacent products such as digital banking, payments, lending, data and account origination. It cited a commercial digital banking deal with a major global financial institution and several account origination contracts as recent examples, but gave no financial terms.

Peter Boyer, Co-President of Banking at FIS, said the company's product updates were helping it win new business across different types of financial institutions.

"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," Boyer said.

More broadly, FIS argues the banking industry is entering a new cycle of infrastructure decisions after years of subdued new bank formation and major system changes delayed by many large institutions.

Stephanie Ferris, Chief Executive Officer and President of FIS, linked the company's recent wins to those shifts in the market.

"Banks are moving through a period of rapid change, with rising expectations for resilience, speed, digital capability and modernization without disruption," Ferris said.

"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," she said.