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For decades, the banking and insurance playbook was linear. Design a product, market it, and service the inquiries that followed. In 2025, that linear model has not just aged but has become a liability.
The market has shifted fundamentally from selling isolated financial products to orchestrating “lifestyle ecosystems”. Today, a mortgage isn’t just a loan; it is part of a real estate ecosystem. Insurance isn’t just a policy; it is embedded into travel or health wellness journeys. For CX leaders, this signifies a critical turning point: operations must now pivot from handling transactions to delivering trust, intelligence, and connected experiences.
According to new data from Everest Group’s Executive Insights™ (2025), the BFSI CX operations market is forecast to reach US$ 27-29 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 3-5 percent. However, topline growth hides a deeper fracture in the industry. The market has bifurcated into two distinct operational realities: static legacy models and high-velocity growth engines.
To capture value in this evolving landscape, decision-makers must recognize which parts of their operations are becoming commoditized and where the new value lies.
The static legacy model (where value stagnates) Organizations heavily invested here are seeing diminishing returns. This operational tier is characterized by:
- Siloed delivery: Front-office support that is disconnected from mid- or back-office realities.
- Manual heavy: Processes like manual claims processing, paper-based workflows, and simple mortgage servicing.
- Input-based pricing: Reliance on FTE-based contracts and pure cost-arbitrage models without incentive for innovation.
The high-velocity growth engine (where value accelerates) This is where the industry’s momentum has shifted. Growth is exploding in areas that require agility and “fast context switching”. Characteristics include:
- Complex interventions: Digital onboarding, KYC remediation, and fraud outreach desks.
- Embedded journeys: Supporting lifestyle-led services like Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) and embedded credit within retail ecosystems.
- Outcome-based commercials: A shift toward pricing models anchored on CSAT, NPS, resolution rates, and conversion KPIs rather than headcount.
Geography as a proxy for maturity
Interestingly, the push toward these high-velocity models is not uniform globally. Everest study states that while North America dominates the market in terms of AI and automation-led tactics, and increased outsourcing around fraud, disputes, claims, etc., the EMEA region is expected to grow at a relatively faster pace. Why? Because EMEA institutions are aggressively outsourcing complex, end-to-end journeys such as client due diligence and claims intake driven by heightened regulatory scrutiny. The lesson for North American CX leaders is clear: the future of outsourcing is not just about efficiency; it is about capability in complex, regulated environments.
The AI reality check: Production vs. pilots
Transitioning to a high-velocity model requires technology, but leaders must distinguish between hype and reality. Everest Group’s assessment of AI deployment reveals a stark maturity curve.
- Production ready: Use cases like customer onboarding, document verification, and fraud analytics have largely graduated to full production.
- Still in pilot: Conversely, complex decision-making areas like loan underwriting and broad “enterprise copilots” remain predominantly in the pilot phase.
The implication is that immediate operational velocity comes from deploying AI to remove friction in data intake and security, rather than waiting for AI to replace high-touch advisory roles.
The path forward: A connected vision
The Everest Group report validates a perspective we at ResultsCX have long held: the era of isolated interactions is over. To survive the shift to lifestyle ecosystems, BFSI firms must pursue front-to-back office integration.
You cannot deliver a seamless CX if your front-line agents are walled off from the back-office processes that resolve the customer’s actual issue. The recommendation for 2026 is to bundle contact center, mid-office, and back-office services into end-to-end offerings. This ensures that when a customer engages, whether for a claim, a dispute, or a loan, the operation moves as one cohesive unit, minimizing leakage and maximizing trust.
The market has signaled its direction. The question is no longer whether to modernize, but how quickly you can migrate your operations from the legacy of the past to the high-velocity engines of the future.
If your organization is still measuring success by “seats filled” or by “outcomes achieved”, reach out to us. Let’s discuss how to transition your high-friction touchpoints into high-velocity journeys.