Building Societies are changing fast.
Members expect digital services that work as smoothly as a high-street bank’s app, yet they still want the warmth and trust that mutuals are known for. At the same time, building societies’ costs are rising, systems are ageing, and new regulations keep coming.
Leaders know they need to modernise, but doing that while keeping operations steady, staff engaged, and members happy presents a serious challenge. We take a deep-dive into the ongoing challenges faced and the potential actions Building Societies can take to tackle them.
Building Societies: the challenges
1. Operational pressure is building
Mortgage and savings teams are still dealing with high demand, regulatory reporting, and tighter credit checks. Along with system upgrades, new data tools, and stretched budgets – the load on internal teams is heavier than ever.
It’s not just about doing more, it’s about doing it differently. As new platforms go live and processes are automated, people must learn fast, adapt, and stay accurate under pressure.
2. Digital transformation brings significant compliance responsibilities
The regulatory bar keeps rising, especially around technology and data. Building societies now face tougher expectations in the areas of:
– Operational resilience: the FCA and PRA expect firms to identify critical services, map dependencies, and prove they can recover from outages.
– Data governance: legacy systems make it hard to evidence data accuracy and lineage, a major issue when migrating or integrating platforms.
– Consumer Duty: every new digital process, chatbot, or self-service journey needs to show clear, fair outcomes for members.
– Third-party oversight: as more work moves to tech vendors and service partners, the rules on supplier management and due diligence are tightening fast.
Transformation projects can easily stall when these regulatory checks aren’t built in from the start, or when stretched compliance teams can’t keep up.
3. The people and capability gap
Getting transformation right depends on people. However, skilled resources are scarce across the sector and in high demand.
Finding business analysts, data specialists, and compliance professionals who understand both financial services and mutual culture is tough.
That gap often leaves internal teams firefighting: keeping the lights on while trying to deliver change on top. And that’s why more and more building societies are turning to flexible resourcing, bringing in trusted partners to boost capacity or manage specific change programmes without losing control.
4. Keeping culture and community through change
Modernising doesn’t mean losing your identity. Members still value the personal, community-driven feel of their society. The challenge is blending the culture and identity with the speed, convenience, and transparency they expect from digital channels.
The societies that will thrive are those that treat technology as an enabler, not a replacement, modernising systems yet still ensuring these are built around people and purpose.
Managing the changes
At Momenta, we help Building Societies manage this balance. We combine trusted, high-quality resource with specialist managed services and technology support, helping our clients deliver complex transformation programmes without compromising service or governance.
Our people are handpicked for quality and experience, drawn from deep financial services networks and backed by technology that gives real-time visibility and control across operations.
Whether you need surge capacity, operational resilience support, or help embedding digital change, we ensure your society stays confident, compliant, and connected through every stage of transformation.
