October 12, 2026
By Dr. Marc L. Brogle, Head of Pre-sales Europe – GrowthX, and Principal Advisor for Modernization & Transformation, DXC Technology, and Dhritiman Mukherjee, Managing Partner, Financial Services Industries, DXC Technology
As digital-first neobanks and fintechs rapidly reshape the financial services market, traditional banks in the Benelux region risk being left behind. Despite their deep regional roots and strong customer trust, they often lack the agility, data and technology foundations needed to adapt quickly. Customer loyalty and a broad product offering have provided some insulation from customer attrition in the past. However, as digital challengers continuously expand their services, and superior customer experience and rapid product innovation become baseline expectations, the risk of customer attrition is growing significantly.
For banks in the Benelux region, the challenge is to balance stability with progress — protecting their customers’ interests while embracing digitalization and modernization.
It is no longer enough for established banks to tinker at the edges of their technology foundation. Incremental improvements are no longer sufficient. Modernization requires a fundamental shift: rethinking technology, customer experience, product innovation and how data and AI are leveraged.
Banks can no longer count on retaining customer loyalty. True, inertia has kept many consumers from reconsidering their banking relationship — even when better alternatives from nimble digital challengers are available. This weak switching behavior has offered traditional banks a degree of protection. In the Benelux region, however, this buffer is eroding quickly. Customers in the Netherlands, in particular, have shown a notably high willingness (estimated at around 25%) to adopt digital financial services, as the Dutch market is among the most digitally advanced in Europe. Belgian and Luxembourgish customers, while traditionally more conservative, are increasingly following suit.
And while banks in the Benelux region have retained customers thanks to offering a broad range of products and personalized service, we're starting to see that many digital challengers that initially launched with a narrow offering — current accounts, savings products and payments — are expanding their scope. Neobanks and fintechs such as Bunq, Revolut and N26 are steadily broadening their offering. As customers begin to take a superior experience and product innovation for granted, the ability of traditional institutions to retain their clients will progressively erode.
How can traditional banks in the Benelux region transform and deliver a customer experience and an agility level that can genuinely compete with neobanks? Their legacy technology landscapes make transformation difficult and can result in fragmented customer experiences. It is also difficult to bring new and differentiated products and services to market quickly — a particular challenge in a region shaped by distinct national regulatory frameworks. These include oversight from De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and the Autoriteit Financiële Markten (AFM) in the Netherlands, the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) and the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) in Belgium, and the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) in Luxembourg — all operating within the broader European framework of the European Central Bank (ECB) and European Banking Authority (EBA).
Traditionally, modernizing legacy systems has been complex, costly and time-consuming. However, the rapid rise of Generative AI is beginning to change the rules of the game, through rapid code conversion and quicker integration into business processes. While AI is not a cure-all, it can significantly accelerate transformation for traditional banks when combined with human expertise. Particularly noteworthy is the use of GenAI to analyze business functionality, technical architecture, work and data flows. Through DXC's human-in-the-loop approach, this method enables an AI-augmented rewrite of legacy systems in a future-ready architecture — with reduced timelines, costs, and risk.
The risk of falling behind customer expectations and technological developments is both a warning signal and an opportunity. Without decisive action, banks in the Benelux region risk losing customers and market share to agile competitors — a threat that is particularly acute given the region’s high digital literacy and openness to fintech adoption. But with the right approach, they can reclaim relevance in a rapidly shifting landscape.
To avoid falling behind, banks in the Benelux region must:
Dismantling the restrictions of legacy systems and outdated practices is challenging. But it is the only way for banks in the Benelux region to not merely survive, but to actively shape their own future.
Dr. Marc L. Brogle is the Principal Advisor of Modernization & Transformation at DXC Technology. Connect with Marc on LinkedIn.
Dhritiman Mukherjee is Managing Partner of Financial Services Industries at DXC Technology. Connect with Dhritiman on LinkedIn.
