Nearly four out of five bank operations leaders believe their financial institutions might not be around much longer if they don't update their technology, according to a new report by Accenture Research.

The professional services company, which surveyed 80 bank COOs, EVPs and other operations executives at small, mid-sized, regional and large banks in the United States and Canada in November and December 2017, found that 79% of the respondents worry their organization's existence could be threatened if they don't update technology to be more flexible and able to support rapid innovation.

“There's a wealth of unlocked value to be extracted from banks' operational systems, but releasing and optimizing that value depends on the bank's ability to use digital technologies,” Accenture Senior Managing Director Alan McIntyre said. “The challenge lies in the banks' legacy systems, which can impede a bank's ability to improve operations and prepare for the future.”