Top 10 Trends Set to Shape Fintech and Payments in 2026

Global tech strategists Juniper Research unveiled their Top 10 Fintech & Payments Trends 2026. It serves as a definitive look at the technologies and market shifts set to reshape financial services over the next 12 months.

The 10 trends are:

1. Stablecoins to Rival Existing Interbank Settlement Layer
2. Agentic Commerce to Reshape B2B & Consumer Purchasing
3. EUDI Wallet to Redefine Digital Identity in Europe
4. Tokenised Assets Will Enter the Mainstream
5. GenAI to Transform Banking
6. Flexible Credentials Will Drive Payment Card Renaissance
7. AI Fraud Prevention Investment to Rise Amid Deepfake Threats
8. Pay by Bank to Scale in the UK Via Commercial VRPs
9. No-code AML Adoption to Extend Beyond Banks
10. Virtual Cards Will Take Off Within Travel Payments

“This year’s trends highlight a financial ecosystem entering a new phase - one defined not just by digitisation, but by intelligence, programmability, and automation,” said Nick Maynard, VP of Fintech Market Research at Juniper Research. “From stablecoins in settlement to agentic AI in commerce, financial institutions will need to rethink how they operate, compete, and protect their customers in an environment moving faster than traditional systems were ever built to handle.”