Software growing fast as 'mature' APAC banking and securities spend hits $67b

IT spending in the banking and securities industry across 'mature' Asia Pacific markets will hit US$67.1 billion this year according to Gartner, which says software will be the fastest growing segment.

Gartner defines mature counties within Asia Pacific as Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea.

Moutusi Sau, Gartner principal research analyst, says the banking and securities industry is focused on investing in advanced data and analytics, as new tools like artificial intelligence are becoming popular in the industry.

Gartner is forecasting the software segment to grow fastest at 8.5% this year, as banking and securities firms invest more in applications, infrastructure and vertical-specific software.

Within this category, applications will be the fastest growing, contributing 12.4% growth in 2017.

The industry analysts say while Japan is the largest market in the region, it is New Zealand that will have the highest growth rate in 2017, clocking 6.4%. Japan will follow at 5.6%.