To combat the perceived threat from the likes of Google, Apple and Facebook, 84% of 100 banks polled by Efma, on behalf of Infosys, say they plan to increase investment in innovation spending over the next year. Sixty-one percent of the sample say they have an innovation strategy, with 26% planning to invest in startups.

Almost half have set out plans to become 'innovation leaders' in their respective markets, says Efma, while 38% are content to be 'fast followers'.

Channels continues to be the area attracting most investments, with the shift to digital reflected in the importance attached to mobile (88%), big data (67%) and social (63%).

In the mobile realm, payments and services on multiple devices are the principal goal. For the online channel, automated account origination and personalisation of marketing offers are considered important by 70% and 59% of banks respectively.