As fintech moves from disruptive to operationally mature, 2026 is shaping up to be a defining year for the industry. From how people interact with their pay to how payments move across borders – the next phase of fintech evolution will be shaped by stronger foundations and smarter systems.
We spoke to a range of industry leaders, asking them to gaze into their crystal balls and share what’s next for fintech in 2026. Here’s what they had to say.
AI’s role in fintech in 2026 – from payroll systems to real-time pay ecosystems
Abigail Vaughan, CEO of Zellis: “In 2026, AI will redefine how people interact with their pay, transforming payroll, benefits, and financial support from static, back-office functions into intelligent, real-time pay ecosystems. Our research revealed that 92% of employees across the UK and Ireland are experiencing financial stress – so it’s no surprise that the demand for more personalised pay experiences is growing, and outdated approaches to pay no longer fit the bill.
“AI will drive the next generation of pay, with more than half of employees stating they would value an AI assistant to help with pay and benefits queries thanks to their 24/7 availability and their ability to provide instant answers that traditional payroll systems might struggle to resolve. Next year, AI-enabled pay systems will provide the personalised insights that employees have been waiting for, marking a strategic move towards more resilient and transparent pay operations.
“By the end of 2026, AI will be embedded across the pay ecosystem, shaping how people access, understand, and manage their earnings. The result? Clearer pay experiences, higher trust in payroll systems and a more financially literate and confident workforce.”
Nadish Lad, Global Head of Product and Strategic Business at Volante Technologies: “For startups building financial infrastructure in 2026, AI-driven payment orchestration will become the competitive differentiator. AI will increasingly coordinate liquidity decisions, exception handling, and anomaly detection as a unified operation. Hybrid and multi-cloud environments make this possible, enabling banks to run on the platform that best meets their needs.
“Real-time payments will continue to expand beyond domestic systems. ISO 20022 adoption is accelerating alongside mature domestic instant payment schemes, creating the conditions for high-volume international corridors. As a structured, Cloud-independent data standard, ISO 20022 allows startups to automate sanctions screening, fraud checks, and reconciliation processes that will work consistently across jurisdictions. In 2026, a greater number of startups will be exploring the opportunities beyond their current domestic customer base.
“Meanwhile, regulated stablecoins will become practical tools for everyday business operations. Startups can use them to streamline cross-currency capital and enable near-instant business settlements. The opportunity lies in using stablecoins alongside traditional payment rails, adding programmable capabilities that eliminate operational friction in treasury management.
“At the same time, infrastructure resilience will no longer be measured by uptime alone. Following notable cloud service disruptions, such as AWS outages, financial institutions understand that payment availability depends on workload distribution across multiple environments. The focus is shifting to multi-cloud architectures designed for potential failure points, traffic distribution, and service isolation. The goal is clear: payments must stay available even when one cloud provider experiences disruption.
“Startups that embrace AI orchestration, data-rich standards, and multi-cloud resilience will play a defining role in how payments operate in the years ahead.”
Why agentic businesses need billing and payments built for usage, not subscriptions, in 2026
Susan O’Neill, CEO and Co-Founder of Paygentic: “Most of today’s billing and payments infrastructure was designed around predictable, monthly SaaS subscriptions and traditional-card based transactions. But AI-native products operate very differently, generating high volumes of small, real-time transactions. This mismatch between infrastructure and demand has revealed a disconnect between what current payment and financial rails can offer and what agentic businesses require to scale.
“Since the AI boom, conversations have mainly been centred around model performance and GPUs, leaving the financial systems that convert usage into actual revenue as an afterthought. For agentic businesses to thrive in 2026, they will need financial infrastructure that reflects how they are built and how they operate. That means utilising systems that can price dynamically, settle funds instantly across borders and partners, and meter any event. Billing, payments and pricing must function as one system, designed around usage or outcomes, rather than constrained by static seats, tiers or subscriptions.”
How governance, trust and discipline will define fintech leadership in 2026
Ignatius Obara, Director at Platcorp: “In 2025, we saw what happens when governance is treated as an afterthought. A number of fintechs and financial institutions paid the price for weak controls, unclear accountability, and a ‘growth at all costs’ mindset. Too often, governance only gets attention when something has already gone wrong.
“What many organisations still underestimate is that governance, when approached deliberately and consistently, can be a core driver of growth rather than a constraint. In 2026, corporate oversight will become a defining differentiator for financial institutions, especially in emerging markets. As investor scrutiny intensifies and regulation evolves, firms without strong governance frameworks will find it harder to access capital, scale sustainably and maintain customer trust. Those that embed governance into their operating models will be best placed to navigate volatility and unlock long-term opportunities.
“This will be particularly true in Africa. As international investment continues to flow into the continent, the institutions that stand out won’t just be the ones showing headline growth, but those demonstrating resilience, transparency and measurable impact. That shift depends on seeing governance not as a box-ticking compliance exercise but as a strategic asset that protects customers and gives investors the confidence to commit capital for the long term. Only then will financial institutions fully realise governance as a genuine engine of sustainable growth in 2026 and beyond.”
Monika Liikamaa, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Enfuce: “Fintech has always moved fast, but speed alone is no longer a strategy. The next chapter belongs to companies that can prove they are built to last. In 2026, investors will look beyond ambition and start valuing the discipline behind it. Trust becomes a measurable asset, and stability becomes a competitive advantage.
“The businesses that invest in strong governance, resilient operations and responsible growth will move ahead of those chasing expansion without structure. The industry is entering a phase where sustainability and performance reinforce one another. Growing with intention, not just momentum, will set a new standard for what leadership looks like in fintech.”
Why SaaS platforms will demand more from payment providers in 2026
Gavin Cicchinelli, President, BlueSnap: “As more SaaS platforms embed payments directly into their products, competition will drive providers to deliver not just processing, but real value to both software vendors and their end customers. Platforms will demand seamless integration and smooth, efficient onboarding for merchants and users, turning high customer intent into immediate, reliable product use while ensuring compliance and risk management. Even established providers will face pressure to innovate, meaning SaaS platforms and their users will benefit from more reliable, efficient, and tailored payment solutions. By 2026, software vendors that choose the right partners will be able to scale globally while offering a smoother, more predictable customer experience.”
How tokenisation will unlock interoperability and global scale in 2026
Attila Doğan, Chief Product Officer at PPRO: “Tokenisation is supporting the next wave of innovation in local payment methods, from account-to-account transfers to wallets and BNPL. In 2026, we will see tokenisation create a new paradigm for secure and effortless money movement. As LPMs gain traction, smart tokens will securely represent account identifiers, mandates and wallet credentials.
“Tokenisation will enable true interoperability as payment preferences are reshaped by digitisation, helping to strengthen the safe and frictionless movement of money across borders. This will raise authorisation rates, reduce false declines and enable “self-healing” transactions that automatically update mandate or wallet data, helping merchants streamline payment flows as they expand globally.
“Ultimately, tokenisation will improve global processing quality and make LPMs more standardised, secure and widely adopted.”
Together, these predictions highlight a clear shift for the fintech industry in 2026. Growth at all costs will no longer be enough – success will depend on resilient infrastructure, intelligent automation and stronger governance. The fintechs that invest in the right foundations early on will be best placed to scale sustainably, build trust and unlock long-term value in the years to come.
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