Banks investing in digital money need more than the technology to issue, custody or move digital assets. They need people who can connect those capabilities to the systems and controls already running the bank.
Forty-two percent of financial institutions identify skills gaps as an obstacle to digital-asset adoption, according to PYMNTS Intelligence’s “Building the Foundation for Digital Money,” produced in collaboration with FIS.
The work involved in putting those products into production reaches across technology, payments, compliance, governance and existing banking infrastructure.
The report points to the scale of the integration work. One industry estimate cited in the report puts selecting a digital-asset custodian at only 10% to 15% of the job. The remaining 80% to 85% involves connecting the provider to the bank’s internal systems and meeting regulatory requirements.
That changes the skills banks need. Digital-asset expertise has to work alongside knowledge of core banking systems, settlement, compliance, liquidity and the operational controls required inside a regulated institution.
The demand is arriving as institutions commit more money to the sector. Eighty-eight percent of banks have committed or expect to commit budget to digital-asset infrastructure in 2026, and more than half of institutions that quantified their spending are investing at least $1 million.
Expertise Becomes Part of the Infrastructure
The skills issue extends beyond hiring blockchain engineers.
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Digital money has to connect with systems that maintain customer accounts, record balances, execute transactions and enforce compliance requirements. Stablecoins, single-bank tokenized deposits and network tokenized deposits also operate differently, leaving institutions with several architectures to understand and potentially support.
Internal expertise becomes part of whether those systems make it into production.
The report found that 55% of banks cite institutional-grade infrastructure and operational support as key to unlocking digital-asset adoption. Skills gaps rank ahead of operating-model readiness and governance structures as an adoption barrier.
Smaller institutions face a particular resource issue. PYMNTS Intelligence found that regional and community banks often lack the engineering and compliance resources available to the largest banks, making digital-asset integration harder.
Partnerships address part of the problem. The report found that 68% of institutions plan to partner with a crypto-native firm as they expand trading, custody and tokenization capabilities. Fifty-three percent prefer a traditional finance platform supplemented with crypto capabilities.
External providers don’t eliminate the need for internal expertise. Banks still have to determine how a new service connects to their systems, how transactions are governed and how the institution retains control over customer relationships and assets.
Digital money is consequently widening the set of specialties involved in payments infrastructure. Banks need people who understand the new assets, but also people who know how those assets interact with the banking systems already moving and accounting for money.
With 42% of financial institutions already identifying skills as an adoption barrier, the competition surrounding digital money won’t be limited to products and networks. It will also include the people who know how to put them into production.
At PYMNTS Intelligence, we work with businesses to uncover insights that fuel intelligent, data-driven discussions on changing customer expectations, a more connected economy and the strategic shifts necessary to achieve outcomes. With rigorous research methodologies and unwavering commitment to objective quality, we offer trusted data to grow your business. As our partner, you’ll have access to our diverse team of PhDs, researchers, data analysts, number crunchers, subject matter veterans and editorial experts.
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