DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.189352.2 ISSN: 2046-1402

Digital Transformation and Operational Efficiency in Banking Under Regulatory Solvency Requirements

María Angélica Inoñan Valdera, Julia Paico Carlos, Víctor Hugo Puicán Rodríguez
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Background Digital transformation can be linked to banking efficiency through the reorganization of processes, the expansion of digital services, and investment in technology; however, this link may vary depending on each institution’s institutional capabilities and regulatory and operational conditions. Method A quantitative, non-experimental, longitudinal approach was adopted. Documentary data from three Peruvian banks were organized into a balanced panel of 33 bank-year observations. Indices of digital transformation and operational efficiency were constructed, and descriptive analyses and linear regressions were performed, incorporating bank effects and time trends. The variables were standardized, and inferences were evaluated using HC3y standard errors and, additionally, Driscoll-Kraay standard errors. Results The average digital transformation index rose from 33.17 points in 2015 to 78.39 in 2025, while operational efficiency showed a fluctuating trend. The overall digital transformation index showed a positive but not significant association with operational efficiency (β = 0.439; 95% CI: −0.415 to 1.294; p HC3 = 0.302; p DK = 0.265). Process automation, service digitization, and technology investment also recorded positive coefficients, although these were not significant. Nor was there sufficient evidence of moderation by regulatory solvency or geographic coverage, as the low or negative values of the adjusted R 2 indicated limited explanatory power. Conclusion The expansion of digital transformation was not accompanied by a uniform and statistically verifiable improvement in operational efficiency. The findings should be interpreted as exploratory relationships specific to the banks and the period analyzed, without attributing causal associations or generalizing them to the financial system as a whole.

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