June 30, 2026—The 2026 Digital Banking Performance Metrics report, commissioned by Alkami and produced by Cornerstone Advisors, provides a comprehensive benchmarking analysis of digital banking investments, operational performance, feature adoption, and pain points for retail and business banking at U.S. financial institutions. The 2026 report draws on data from 89 financial institutions on the retail side and a separate group of 60 financial institutions for business banking. Both cohorts include both credit unions and banks.
Retail Digital Banking
Investment and Efficiency
2024 saw a sharp decline in digital investment, in part due to the very high investment, which Cornerstone called “unsustainable,” in 2023. Still, digital investment rebounded some in 2025. The average digital spend per $1 billion in assets in 2025 rose to almost $590,000 from ~$551,000 the year prior. The report notes that the range in digital investment reflects significant differences in how financial institutions prioritize these channels or view the channels’ impact on their competitive standing.
Digital spend per user dropped to $19, while the cost of staffing to manage digital platforms remained stable. As Cornerstone notes, these metrics can only be viewed as positive if the user experience is not negatively impacted by cost controls or operational efficiencies.
Usage and Engagement
Digital engagement continues to grow. Eighty-seven percent of checking accounts now have active users on digital banking platforms. Mobile has become the primary channel, with mobile activation rates jumping to 82%. The report shows that digital banking users log in nearly every other day, and cautions that users logging in only twice a week are managing their finances elsewhere.
Other usage metrics reflect shifts in consumer use of available payment tools. Mobile deposit adoption fell to 21% from 26% in 2024, and the average number of deposits per user has similarly dropped some. P2P payment usage dropped to 15% as consumers turn to third-party apps like Venmo and Cash App. Bill pay adoption stagnated at 35%, as the average number of bills paid per user declined. And, as financial institutions make mobile payments a native feature of their digital banking platforms, adoption and usage continue to rise.
Digital Account Opening and Lending
Digital checking account opening has improved: 27% of checking accounts are now opened online. Abandonment remains a significant issue however—on average, for every account opened online, 3.36 are abandoned. For some users, this is due to a poor experience during identify verification, including analog steps that interrupt the digital experience. Others find a poor account opening or onboarding experience across their banking channels. Digital lending reached a new high, with 51% of loan applications submitted online.
Digital Support and Cross Sales
Chatbot and live chat usage increased, with bots now handling more of the basic service queries while more difficult questions are escalated to human agents. As the report notes, fewer than a third of the bots are involved in transactions.
There are signs too that retail digital engagement is aligned with product growth. In 2025, digital users added an average of 1.56 new products per user, up slightly from the previous year, and are more engaged with their financial institutions as a result.
Business Digital Banking
Adoption and Gaps
Business digital banking is at an earlier stage of maturity. Sixty-five percent of business customers are enrolled in digital banking, the majority of whom are active users. Login frequency varies widely, and few business customers are mobile-first.
Online business account opening is rare, and digital lending is still nascent—only 20% of institutions originate business loans online, though, where available, online loans account for 37% of dollar volume.
Features and Utilization
Retail digital banking platforms widely offer card management, budgeting tools, and credit score monitoring. Some features, like personal financial management (PFM), are underutilized despite broad availability. In business banking, core transactional features like ACH and wires are common, but advanced capabilities such as real-time payments, integrated payables/receivables, and cashflow forecasting are rare. While advanced capabilities remain limited, the more immediate challenges tend to stem from internal shortcomings. Survey respondents reported frustration that they cannot view their business digital banking platform through the eyes of their business customers and that they did not have access to sufficient usage data.
Conclusion
Unlocking the Full Value of Digital Banking Investments
This report concludes that while digital banking adoption is strong, many institutions are not fully realizing the benefits of their digital investments. Retail banking shows progress in mobile engagement and digital lending but struggles with account opening abandonment and P2P retention. Business banking faces significant capability gaps. The authors recommend that financial institutions align their metrics with strategic goals, focus on reducing friction in digital onboarding, promote underutilized features, and invest in tools that improve internal visibility and support.
The complete Cornerstone Advisors 2026 Digital Banking Performance Metrics report, commissioned by Alkami, is available for download.
Editor’s note: This information is provided for educational purposes only and is the opinion and research of Cornerstone Advisors, a firm specializing in research, strategy, and consulting for banks, credit unions, and fintechs. Alkami is a leading provider of digital banking platforms for U.S. financial institutions and a digital banking software partner of Vertifi Software.