SharePoint Frustrations: Why It's Not Working for Banks and Credit Unions

Many banks and credit unions adopted SharePoint because it came bundled with Microsoft 365. But years later, what started as a convenient inclusion has turned into a daily struggle. SharePoint wasn't designed for financial institutions - and it shows. Below, we break down the most common frustrations we hear from real IT teams, operations staff, and compliance officers.

1. It's Too Complicated for Non-Tech Teams

Most credit union employees aren't developers - they're member service reps, HR staff, or compliance managers. SharePoint's interface feels like a development environment. Users need technical training to upload documents, configure web parts, or even share a file. Most just give up.

If your SharePoint site is gathering dust, you're not alone. Read more about why it happens.

"We had to train HR just to add a new policy. And even then, it sometimes broke."

2. Search Doesn't Work - Especially for Internal Content

The biggest complaint we hear? "I can't find anything." SharePoint's search often buries relevant documents, misses metadata, and struggles with internal keywords that matter most to FIs - like loan procedures, exception logs, or HR policies.

That's why so many institutions are replacing SharePoint with intranets designed for findability.

"I searched the exact name of the file and it still didn't come up."

3. No True Policy Acknowledgement Tracking

Compliance is non-negotiable. But SharePoint doesn't offer built-in tools for:

Policy read-tracking
Staff attestations
Version-controlled approvals

This forces IT teams to cobble together Power Automate flows or use clunky plugins - which often break or aren't audit-friendly. Even advanced integrations can't fully solve this gap.

4. Workflow Automation is Clunky or Nonexistent

Need to route an IT request to different branches? Automate onboarding tasks? Create dynamic forms with conditional logic? SharePoint can't handle it easily without a developer and 14 open tabs.

That's why so many banks turn to a SharePoint alternative with built-in smart workflows.

"We hired a consultant to help us build a flow. It broke when the license changed."

5. Updates Break Everything

Microsoft updates SharePoint constantly - but you don't control the timing. You wake up one day and discover a new UI, missing button, or broken Power Automate flow. It's disruptive. Worse, it sometimes affects live compliance tools.

Even something as basic as app registration can throw things off when Microsoft changes behavior.

"We had a full breakdown right before an audit. It wasn't even our fault."

6. File Management is Messy and Redundant

Duplicate versions, disconnected libraries, poor folder visibility, broken permissions - it's everything you hoped a modern intranet would fix, but didn't. Even integrated views can't solve the mess if the structure is flawed.

7. Internal Communications Feel Like an Afterthought

Want to post internal news, events, birthdays, or reminders? It's possible with SharePoint - but rarely easy. You're forced into a CMS-style workflow for what should be a simple bulletin post - or automatically driven by birthdays already stored in Entra ID.

8. The Burden Falls on IT

Admins often become accidental SharePoint experts. From permissions to patching, they're stuck maintaining a platform they didn't choose - just because it was bundled.

"I spend more time fixing SharePoint than managing our servers."

9. Limited Access Control Granularity

You need certain files viewable only by lending. Or a form accessible to branch managers. SharePoint's role-based permissions don't map cleanly to real-world org structures. Purpose-built intranets are better aligned to how banks actually work.

10. It's Not Built for Financial Institutions

At its core, SharePoint is a general-purpose platform. There's no built-in support for:

Examiner-ready exports
Policy tracking dashboards
Forms built around branch routing or dual approvals
Read receipts tied to procedures

What even is SharePoint? It's worth stepping back to understand what it was meant to do - and what it wasn't.

What's the Fix?

You don't have to go back to shared drives. And you don't have to fight SharePoint forever.

SimplifyIT was built from the ground up for banks and credit unions. It includes:

Smart search that actually works - even on internal terms
Compliant document management with version history and acknowledgment logs
Built-in workflows for HR, IT, compliance, and audits
Zero coding required - non-technical staff can manage everything

Frequently Asked Questions

Do we have to replace SharePoint entirely?

No. Some clients continue using SharePoint for external file sharing but use SimplifyIT for internal forms, workflows, policy tracking, and employee communication.

Can we still access SharePoint libraries from SimplifyIT?

Yes. Our platform integrates with SharePoint document libraries and presents them in a more user-friendly way, with proper metadata and access control.

We already paid for SharePoint. Why pay again?

You're already paying - in lost time, confusion, missed policies, and compliance risk. SimplifyIT replaces those hidden costs with a platform built specifically for financial institutions.

See the Difference for Yourself

Watch the 5-minute intranet demo or book a quick call to learn how SimplifyIT solves the problems SharePoint creates - and finally delivers an intranet that works.