There is a shortage of technology experience on the boards of the world’s largest banks, according to a report released Wednesday by global consulting firm Accenture.
The report finds that only 6% of directors and 3% of CEOs have professional technology experience.
In addition, 43% of the banks have no board members — and 30% have only one board member — with professional technology experience.
The report — based on an analysis of the professional backgrounds of nearly 2,000 executive and non-executive board members at more than 100 of the largest banks in the world — defines “technology experience” as holding or having held senior technology positions at a company or senior responsibilities at a technology firm.
“Many of the biggest challenges now confronting banking are intimately connected with technology so directors need a robust understanding of technology if they are to make informed decisions,” says Richard Lumb, group chief executive of Accenture’s financial services practice, in a statement.
“Fintech, cyber-security, IT resilience and technology implications of regulatory changes have all become critical board-level issues but many bank boards simply don’t have adequate expertise to assess these issues and make decisions about strategy, investment and how best to allocate technology resources,” Lamb adds.
The boards of banks in the United States and the United Kingdom have higher percentages of directors with tech experience, according to the report, but that it is still low, 16% of directors in the U.S. and 14% in the U.K. Boards of Chinese, Brazilian, Greek, Italian and Russian banks have the lowest numbers with tech experience.
To address the apparent shortage of tech experience, the report recommends that banks set up board-level technology committees, similar to traditional risk and audit committees, that could advise the board on major technology decisions. Currently, only 11% of the top banks have these sorts of committees, the report says. It also recommends that boards undertake truing for directors to improve the tech knowledge of all their directors.