COBOL in 2026: Why It Still Runs the World

Every year, technology publications declare COBOL dead. And every year, this 67-year-old programming language continues to process $3 trillion in daily commerce, power 95% of ATM transactions, and handle 80% of all in-person transactions globally.

The disconnect between perception and reality has never been greater. While startups chase the latest JavaScript framework, the global financial system runs on code written before most developers were born.

The Numbers Don't Lie

Let's start with what COBOL actually does today:

• 220 billion lines of COBOL are still in production globally
• 95% of ATM transactions run on COBOL (Reuters)
• 80% of in-person transactions use COBOL at some point
• 43% of banking systems are built on COBOL
• $3 trillion in daily commerce is processed by COBOL

These aren't legacy systems in the sense of "old and waiting to be replaced." They're mission-critical infrastructure that processes more transactions than any modern system has ever handled.

Why COBOL Refuses to Die

1. It Works. Reliably.

COBOL systems have been running for 30, 40, even 50 years. They've survived Y2K, countless technology shifts, and the rise and fall of dozens of "COBOL killer" languages. The code that runs your bank's core transactions has been tested by billions of real-world operations.

Can you say the same about software written last year?

2. Replacement Is Harder Than It Looks

Here's the dirty secret of enterprise IT: 70% of rip-and-replace projects fail (Gartner). The remaining 30% typically exceed budget and timeline by 2-3x.

Why? Because legacy COBOL systems contain decades of accumulated business logic. Every edge case, every regulatory requirement, every exception handling—it's all embedded in code. Often undocumented. Sometimes understood by only a handful of people (or no one at all).

"The scariest thing isn't the old code. It's the business rules we don't know are there until we try to replicate them."

3. The Economics Make Sense

Running COBOL on modern mainframes is often cheaper than running equivalent workloads on cloud infrastructure—especially at scale. IBM's z16 mainframes can process 300 billion inference operations per day while maintaining the reliability enterprises depend on.

When you're processing trillions of dollars, "move fast and break things" isn't a philosophy—it's a lawsuit.

The Real Problem: The Skills Gap

Here's what actually threatens COBOL systems: not the language itself, but the people who understand it.

• The average COBOL programmer is over 55 years old
• Universities stopped teaching COBOL decades ago
• Knowledge transfer is inadequate across the industry

When these experts retire, they take with them not just syntax knowledge, but deep understanding of systems that handle the world's money.

What This Means for Enterprises

If your organization runs COBOL (and if you're a large bank, insurer, or government agency, you almost certainly do), here's the reality:

1. Full replacement is risky and expensive. The 70% failure rate isn't a scare statistic—it's a measured reality.
2. Doing nothing is also risky. As expertise retires, maintenance becomes harder and more expensive.
3. The smart path is evolution, not revolution. Add API layers. Enable integrations. Modernize the edges while preserving the core.

The Bridge Approach

At BJPR, we've spent 35 years working with systems exactly like this. Our approach isn't to rip out what works—it's to bridge it to the future.

This means:

• API wrappers that let modern applications communicate with COBOL backends
• AI integration that adds intelligent capabilities without touching core transaction logic
• Gradual modernization that reduces risk while building new capabilities
• Knowledge preservation through documentation and training

The goal isn't to kill COBOL. It's to let it do what it does best—reliable, high-volume transaction processing—while enabling the modern capabilities your business needs.

The Bottom Line

COBOL isn't dying. It's not even sick. It's a 67-year-old marathoner that's still outrunning the competition at scale.

The question isn't whether to replace it. The question is how to bridge it—connecting battle-tested reliability with modern capabilities, AI integration, and the agility your business demands.

That's exactly what we do.