Top 5 fintech trends shaping financial services in 2026

While technological advancements affect virtually every industry, fintech is among the sectors where the impact is most visible. Changes in fintech are happening at a rapid pace, with each year introducing new technologies. The sector is entering a new phase, where AI, compliance automation, and embedded finance transform how digital financial services operate. Read on to explore the key trends in financial services in 2026.

Trend #1: Generative AI and intelligent automation

One of the growing trends to watch in 2026 is artificial intelligence (AI), which continues reshaping financial services and has now moved beyond chatbots. Fintechs leverage AI-driven technology that supports decision-making, analyses large volumes of data, and helps teams understand customer behaviour. Let’s look at the most common use cases of AI in fintech in 2026.

• Real-time credit scoring. Lenders can combine traditional credit information with behavioural and transaction data to form a more up-to-date picture of a customer’s financial situation. The score adjusts as new information comes in, allowing faster and more accurate lending decisions and improving access for customers with limited credit histories.
• Fraud detection and underwriting. AI models examine patterns across large datasets and flag unusual behaviour, enabling underwriting specialists to focus on complex cases instead of reviewing every application manually.
• Document analysis and compliance automation. AI agents can extract and verify information from documents without human intervention, which significantly streamlines KYC/AML processes.
• Portfolio optimisation. Investment and wealth management platforms use AI to evaluate portfolio performance, simulate market scenarios, and recommend adjustments that align with user goals. 
• Predictive analytics. AI-powered models can identify trends in customer activity, market data, internal metrics, etc., helping product and finance teams plan more effectively. This translates to better pricing decisions, improved liquidity management, and more reliable growth projections.

As AI becomes more involved in regulated processes, explainable AI (methods that make the decisions of AI understandable to humans) is gaining traction. Regulators expect organisations to demonstrate why a model produced a particular result, making fintechs balance model performance with transparency so that their systems meet compliance standards.

Trend #2: Embedded finance and modular BaaS

Recognised as one of the key fintech trends in 2025, embedded finance continues to gain momentum in 2026. Embedded finance allows companies to add financial services to their platforms without building banking infrastructure, ensuring a seamless experience for consumers and businesses.

This becomes possible through Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS), one of the emerging trends in banking technology. BaaS providers deliver the underlying banking infrastructure, allowing companies to integrate financial features by connecting to ready-made modules via APIs.

For example, marketplaces embed payments, digital wallets, and payouts so that buyers can pay and sellers can receive funds quickly. Insurers use embedded finance to distribute coverage inside other platforms, such as e-commerce checkouts or mobility apps, to offer protection directly at the point of purchase. In logistics, shipping and cargo insurance is integrated into booking or shipment flows.

Some companies opt for API-only integrations and build the entire user experience themselves. Others choose white-label embedded finance solutions, using pre-built financial modules under their own brand, which usually means faster time to market, cost efficiency, and flexibility.

This explains the rise of API-first architectures, which let companies assemble their fintech layers from multiple services, including payments, identity checks, compliance tools, lending engines, data services, and others, from various vendors. This accelerates go-to-market speed and reduces the cost of expanding into new regions or customer segments.

Still, implementing embedded finance is also associated with some challenges. Firstly, businesses must ensure that every embedded module meets the compliance requirements of the markets they serve. In addition, scalability can become an issue when user volumes grow quickly.

Trend #3: Real-time payments and digital currencies

Real-time domestic and cross-border payments are moving from niche use cases to a standard expectation. Financial institutions and fintech companies are upgrading their systems to support instant settlement.

A major driver behind this shift is the ongoing adoption of ISO 20022, the messaging standard that enables more structured payment data. More regions migrate to ISO 20022, which results in improved interoperability between payment systems and therefore streamlines cross-border transfers.

Moreover, central banks continue to explore central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to provide a digital form of central bank money that supports real-time transfers. CBDCs introduce new rails for fintechs to build on, particularly in areas such as remittances, treasury automation, multi-currency wallets, and other services that depend on fast, reliable settlement.

The growth of tokenised assets is another widely discussed fintech topic. Tokenisation allows traditional financial instruments or funds to be represented and moved on digital ledgers. When combined with smart contracts, certain settlement steps, such as collateral releases or payment triggers, can be automated without manual intervention.

Regulators are refining their approach to digital assets, which gradually brings more clarity to how tokenised money, stablecoins, and blockchain-based settlement tools can be used in financial products.

Trend #4: Security-by-design and zero-trust architecture

Security has always been a priority in the fintech sector, but now it’s built into the architecture from the outset. Fintech is shifting towards zero trust, an approach that treats every user and request as untrusted. Access to systems is granted only when identity, device status, and context are verified, and this verification continues throughout the entire session.

To reduce the chance of unauthorised access, the industry adopts a range of identity and access controls, such as multi-factor authentication and adaptive risk checks. Encryption is applied to data in transit and at rest, and cloud security practices evolve to ensure that storage, networks, and workloads follow consistent policies.

Because fintech products rely on third-party integrations, secure API communication has become a core requirement. Transport encryption, token-based authentication, and regular key rotation help protect data, while monitoring tools provide visibility into unusual patterns.

Fraud remains one of the most serious concerns in the financial services sector. Fintechs continue to adopt new prevention mechanisms, combining rule-based controls, machine learning models, device intelligence, behavioural analytics, and real-time risk scoring to detect anomalies.

However, customers expect quick onboarding and frictionless payments, and maintaining a usable customer experience while applying multiple layers of protection can be challenging. To balance these expectations, teams implement step-up authentication, progressive verification, and context-based controls that adjust security levels without overwhelming the user.

Trend #5: Regtech and compliance automation

Traditionally viewed as a constraint for banks and fintechs, regulation is becoming a source of innovation in 2026. Regtech has become one of the accelerating banking technology trends, with tools that automate KYC, AML, and reporting tasks.

Fintechs increasingly embed compliance logic directly into their product workflows. Identity verification, sanctions screening, and risk checks are part of the core experience, without disrupting the customer journey.

A key component of this shift is the development of regulatory data pipelines. These pipelines collect and organise the information required for oversight and create reliable audit trails. They also allow teams to apply the same controls across different markets without duplicating processes. Many organisations adopt continuous monitoring, where AI systems and rule-based tools track behaviour in real time and flag anomalies that require attention.

Data pipelines and continuous monitoring enable real-time risk management. Automated alerts, adaptive thresholds, and contextual scoring help identify unusual activity early and prioritise the cases that need manual review.

When it comes to multi-jurisdiction compliance, it remains complex. The good news is that regtech platforms make it more manageable, enabling global fintechs to scale internationally without redesigning their compliance processes for every new jurisdiction.

How these trends connect: building the future of finance

Each of these financial technology trends reinforces the others, together creating a faster, more flexible, more scalable, and more secure financial ecosystem.

• AI supports underwriting and fraud prevention.
• Embedded finance and modular banking services change how companies deliver financial features to users.
• Real-time payments and tokenisation reshape how money and assets move across regions.
• Compliance automation ensures these activities meet regulatory standards.

Key takeaways: what your fintech needs to know

These latest trends in banking technology and fintech clearly demonstrate that financial services are shifting toward automation, modular systems, and stronger oversight. Beyond product strategies, these shifts influence fintech investment trends, with funding increasingly directed toward AI and ML, embedded finance, real-time payments, and regtech solutions.

If you’re exploring these trends, reach out to DeepInspire. We are a software development company with 25+ years of experience helping financial institutions and startups build innovative solutions for digital finance.

FAQ: fintech trends in 2026

What are the most important fintech trends for 2026?

AI-driven decision tools, embedded finance, real-time payments, tokenisation, and regtech automation are among the most important fintech trends 2026 brings.

Does fintech have a future?

Yes. The future of fintech remains strong as more services move online and companies look for efficient ways to manage payments, identity, compliance, and risk.

What are the 5 key technologies in fintech?

Common examples include artificial intelligence, API-based systems, digital identity tools, real-time payment networks, and automated compliance platforms.

What is the next big trend in fintech?

The next major shift is likely to come from more advanced use of AI, continued expansion of embedded finance, and wider adoption of real-time settlement systems.