Financial Organizations Optimistic About Growth, But Are Stunted By Poor Software Investments

Capterra’s 2025 Tech Trends Survey finds that, while most financial firms plan to increase software investments to support business growth, 70% have regretted a recent software purchase

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Financial businesses are optimistic about growth this year, as nearly two-thirds (63%) of these organizations anticipate a revenue growth between 5% and 15%. Capterra’s 2025 Tech Trends Survey of 3,500 businesses, including 401 financial firms, explores how businesses are adopting new technology to support growth and the challenges they face in evaluating software. The survey reveals that 77% of financial organizations plan to increase software investments in 2025.

Capterra’s report identifies the key factors that lead to successful tech purchases. The insights from this survey will help financial organizations avoid the same fate as the alarming 70% of financial organizations that say they regret a recent software purchase in the past 18 months.

• Security, data, and system compatibility issues plague software investment planning: 39% of financial firms cite cybersecurity concerns as a top challenge when planning software investments, followed by 38% who say data management is a key challenge. Another 36% cite compatibility with existing systems as an issue when evaluating new software.

• Previous experience and vendor reputation greatly influence how software buyers build their vendor list: Software buyers at financial organizations say past experience with the vendor or product (49%) and the vendor’s reputation and industry prominence (48%) are the two most important information sources they use to build a vendor list.

• Product fit and questions about ROI lead to purchase regret: The top product-related reasons that lead financial organizations to regret their software purchase are because the solution was too basic for their needs (35%) and because they were unable to prove the ROI of the software purchase (32%).

• Beyond product-related reasons, poor vendor relationships also contribute to regretful purchases: Among financial organizations that regret purchases, respondents frequently cite problematic vendor handoffs (49%) and unmet expectations (39%) as core issues.

Poor software purchases are highly consequential, as 57% say their regretful purchase led to substantial or monumental financial repercussions. This finding makes it especially important for financial firms to rethink how they buy software.

“To avoid an ill-fated software purchase, financial organizations should take a goal-oriented approach to the buying process and have a firm grasp of how success will be measured,” says Eduardo Garcia Rodriguez, analyst at Capterra. “This means setting clear goals early on and establishing KPIs to measure software performance – both of which will provide a reliable compass for purchasing teams evaluating vendors.”

With hundreds of software categories available, knowing which types of tools to prioritize can be difficult. Financial organizations can start by looking at the most popular investments made by their peers. Capterra’s survey finds that financial organizations will prioritize IT security (37%), AI (33%), IT management (32%), and accounting and finance (28%) software to support their business in 2025.

Read the full report for more software buying trends in the financial services industry, and visit Capterra.com to compare top solutions on the Capterra Shortlist.

About Capterra
Capterra is the #1 B2B marketplace for organizations to find the right software and services. Our platform connects buyers to over 2 million verified user reviews about products and services spanning 1,000 categories and offers actionable, objective insights and recommendations to help them find the best product or service for their specific business needs.

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