In 2026, artificial intelligence (AI) will move from experimentation to enterprise-scale impact in banking, enabling faster servicing, improved operational efficiency, and a high level of personalization.

At the same time, money movement will become increasingly seamless, powered real-time payment rails and widespread adoption of mobile wallets. Meanwhile, open banking will continue to mature and expand, unlocking new revenue opportunities for industry stakeholders by turning APIs, data, and analytics into monetizable assets.

These are among the key predictions for the global banking sector in 2026. These forecasts, shared in a new by banking platform provider Backbase, draw on interviews with industry executives representing organizations including McKinsey, Bain and Company, Danske Bank and NedBank Private Wealth. These experts cover horizontal and segment-specific trends shaping the banking industry, exploring themes including open banking, AI-powered banking, and payments.

The AI-powered bank

In 2026, AI is expected to move from promise to performance in banking, as embedded agentic assistants workflow automation, and AI-driven compliance, technologies turn AI hype into measurable return on investment (ROI). The payoff will include faster servicing, more efficient operations, and a dramatically accelerated software development lifecycle.

While AI made waves in 2025, many banking institutions remained in the experimentation phase, or otherwise running small sidecar pilots, rather than mainstream ones. According to IBM data, only 8% of banks were developing generative AI (genAI) in a truly strategic, enterprise-wide way as of late-2024, while 78% remained in “tactical mode”.

However, the tide seems to have turned in recent months, with 82% of US banks planning to increase the share of their overall budget devoted to AI,  and nearly four in ten expect AI to exceed 20% of total budget, according to a 2025 KPMG report.

AI adoption in banking products

AI adoption will also accelerate across banking products. In retail banking, AI copilots will anticipate needs, automate money movement and elevate financial wellness. At the same time data-and-payments orchestration will turn personalization into primacy and durable loyalty.

This comes as customers grow increasingly comfortable with genAI applications. For example, Bank of America’s virtual assistant, Erica, has surpassed 2.5 billion client interactions since its launch in 2018, handling request and providing insights for 20 million customers.

In wealth management, firms will fuse hyper-automation with human advice to scale white-glove experiences. As AI handles preparation, analysis, and next-best actions, advisors will get to focus on life goals and strategy.

In small business banking, speed, precision, and ecosystems-based intelligence will become the baseline in 2026. Agentic collaboration, instant know-your-customer (KYC), embedded finance, and dynamic credit inside the tools businesses already use will deliver context-aware service, faster working-capital decisions, and reliable growth.

Invisible payments

This year, money movement will fully merge with everyday digital experiences. Whether a customer is paying a bill, sending funds abroad, or receiving their salary, the transaction will feel instant, automatic, and invisible.

This trend will be driven by the rapid adoption of instant payments. In Europe, the Instant Payments Regulation (IPR) now mandates that banks process euro transfers instantly, not just during business hours. Asia-Pacific and Latin America are also building momentum, with Brazil’s Pix network now reaching around 75% of the population, and Thailand’s PromptPay boasting over 90 million registrations, which exceeds the country’s population of about 71 million.

For financial institutions, this represents a major opportunity for banks and fintech companies to generate revenue by orchestrating payments across cards, accounts, wallets, and digital currencies, plus instant settlement and programmable rails.

Payments remain the most profitable segment of financial services, generating US$2.5 trillion in annual revenue from US$2 quadrillion in value flows across 3.6 trillion transactions worldwide, according to McKinsey.

Open finance accelerates

In 2026, open banking will evolve into open finance, creating a revenue engine for many financial institutions.

Winners will be those with scalable API platforms capable of monetizing access through ecosystem partnerships, embedded banking into non-bank apps, commerce platforms, and enterprise software. Data and analytics will become active revenue streams, powering embedded credit, risk-scoring, and tailored financial services.

Open banking began as a regulatory exercise, before expanding into the broader open finance model and embedded ecosystems.

According the US, Canada, and Europe, the total addressable market for embedded finance currently stands at US$185 billion, according to Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Though this marks a remarkable 25% increase from US$150 billion in 2022, significant growth potential remains as current penetration is only US$32 billion.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on images by FellowNekocat and mizkit via Freepik