For decades, IT budgeting in financial services followed a predictable pattern: look at last year’s spend, make incremental adjustments, and treat technology as a cost center. As Omega Systems COO Ben Tercha recently wrote in Forbes Technology Council, that approach is no longer just outdated – it’s risky. In 2026, IT has become inseparable from enterprise value, resilience, and client trust.
Nowhere is that shift more visible than in financial services.
Facing relentless cyber threats, escalating regulatory scrutiny, and rising client expectations, financial firms are reallocating IT dollars toward areas that protect confidence and continuity – not just uptime. Recent research from Omega’s 2025 Financial Services IT and Cybersecurity Survey of more than 300 executives reveals where those dollars are going, and why. That reallocation is already underway: nearly 78% of financial firms report increasing IT and cybersecurity spending over the past 12 months, even amid ongoing market volatility.
Cybersecurity is no longer a subset of IT budgets – it’s a primary driver.
According to the survey, 93% of financial firms experienced at least one cyber incident in the past year, and nearly one in five faced dozens. The business impact is immediate: 88% of executives say a successful cyberattack would trigger client withdrawals, investor panic, or direct loss of assets. Among CFOs, that figure rises to 94%.
As a result, firms are prioritizing spend on capabilities that reduce both operational and reputational risk. In fact, that increased investment signals that security is now viewed as a business necessity rather than discretionary spend. In 2026, the top planned IT and security investments include:
These investments reflect a shift from reactive defense to sustained cyber resilience – the ability to detect, respond, and recover quickly without disrupting client trust.
Regulatory pressure is reinforcing this shift.
From the SEC’s cybersecurity disclosure rule to NYDFS Part 500 and expanding FINRA oversight, compliance expectations have tightened dramatically. Omega’s compliance research shows that 42% of financial executives cite staying current with evolving requirements as their biggest compliance roadblock, while 36% lack sufficient internal expertise to keep pace.
This has direct budget implications. Today, 96% of financial firms allocate more than 5% of their total budget to IT and cybersecurity, reinforcing that security and compliance are now core operating expenses – not discretionary line items. Firms are investing in systems and services that produce proof, not just policies:
Detection delays are now compliance liabilities. More than one-third of firms say it would take a week or longer to detect and contain a breach – a timeline that risks falling out of step with disclosure requirements and regulatory expectations.
In 2026, security and compliance are treated as nonnegotiable baselines, echoing Tercha’s argument that resilience is now table stakes.
One of the clearest indicators of where IT dollars are flowing is the move away from manual processes.
Despite years of digital transformation, many firms still rely on spreadsheets or internally built tools for security benchmarking and compliance reporting. These approaches limit visibility and slow response when evidence is needed most.
Financial firms are increasingly funding platforms that automate:
Automation turns effort into evidence – and evidence into trust. As enforcement actions have shown, regulators now penalize process failures as aggressively as technical ones.
Modernization is no longer framed as innovation – it’s risk reduction.
Half of surveyed firms admit they still rely on outdated or on-premises systems, and 57% are not monitoring threats in real time. These gaps slow detection, complicate recovery, and undermine both security and compliance posture. This helps explain why more than 40% of firms now dedicate at least 10% of total budgets to IT and cybersecurity. Modernization has shifted from innovation initiative to risk-control mandate.
2026 investments in cloud and infrastructure modernization reflect a recognition that legacy systems are now a liability. Modern platforms support centralized visibility, faster recovery, and stronger built-in security – all critical in a sector where confidence can erode in hours.
Talent shortages and operational complexity are also reshaping spend.
While 65% of firms still manage IT and security entirely in-house, those using managed or co-managed models demonstrate stronger outcomes. MSSP-supported firms test more frequently, detect and contain breaches faster, and maintain more robust documentation.
This is why managed services are gaining budget share in 2026 – not primarily as a cost-saving tactic, but as a way to operationalize resilience when internal teams are stretched thin.
As Tercha notes, partnerships aren’t just about efficiency; they’re force multipliers that help organizations align spend with outcomes.
Taken together, these spending patterns signal a fundamental shift. Financial firms are moving away from static IT budgets and toward active value management – aligning technology investment with outcomes like risk reduction, operational resilience, and client trust.
The firms that succeed in 2026 won’t be the ones spending the most. They’ll be the ones spending intentionally – modernizing infrastructure, automating compliance, strengthening cyber resilience, and using partners where they create speed and confidence.
In financial services, trust is currency. IT spend has become one of its most visible expressions. And in 2026, the message is clear: resilience isn’t just a security priority – it’s a survival imperative.
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