Mubasher: Global investment banks allocate $72 billion annually to develop their information technology (IT), including retail infrastructure and applications, to face threats by fintech companies.

Through enhancing their digital platforms, the banks also seek to improve their scale, talent, and capital resources to be able to compete in the digital marketplace, according to a survey by Moody's.

US investment banks are leading in terms of this spending with an average of 18.3% or about $72 billion annually of their total operating expenses allocated for IT between 2017 and 2019.

In this regard, the senior vice president of Moody’s, Michael Rohr, commented: “Sustaining these investments and smartly executing digital strategies will be important to help fend off the threat from fintech firms as they continue to test the boundaries of the banking business, particularly in the simpler retail products and payment services that account for about a third of the investment banks' revenue."