Financial institutions should be forced to improve their IT infrastructure, not just to ensure account problems are avoided but also to avert another banking crisis.
This is according the technology body Intellect. It said that decades of underinvestment in IT systems means banks "don't know their own business".
The body feels that if the Financial Services Authority (FSA) does not come down hard on banks and building societies the new Financial Conduct Authority "will not have an accurate view of the whole financial system" when it comes into force next year.
If there is a silver lining to all of this it is that any major overhaul of IT systems in financial institutions will likely lead to more demand for skilled IT contractors.
Intellect also feels that if banks do not update their systems then regulators will not be able spot "abuses or another financial crisis before it is too late."
The body's study stated: "Banks are willing to spend money, though only] where every cut millisecond means more profit – but not on modernising the infrastructure that allows them to deliver better customer services, act as a catalyst for the economy or allow regulators to perform their roles.”
