2026 predictions for banking: Real time, intelligent and human-centric

As banks plan for 2026, conversations on the trends expected to shape the industry abound. At Sibos 2025 in Frankfurt, Germany, global banking leaders aligned around a common vision; the bank of the near future will be intelligent, interconnected, and deeply human-centered. The foundations for that future, including real-time information, interoperable standards, open ecosystems, and autonomous AI, are already advancing rapidly, and 2026 will be the year they begin to converge at scale.

In this blog, I’ll share some key trends and predictions expected to impact banking in 2026, and what they mean for institutions preparing for the year ahead.

1. Real-time information becomes the new standard

Banks have long focused on real-time payments, but 2026 will be the year real-time information becomes just as essential. Corporate and transaction banking clients, especially, are demanding real-time visibility into payments, balances, liquidity, and settlement status. This shift is being accelerated by:

• ISO 20022 adoption, enabling richer, structured data, including invoice and remittance details, embedded directly into payment messages
• Real-time data exchanges through open APIs, enabling corporates, suppliers, partners, and banks to collaborate with shared, trusted information

This evolution pushes banking further away from paper-based processes and toward fully digital, automated interactions powered by video, digital forms, and cross-platform data flows.

Impact:

Banks unable to support real-time data will fall behind. The institutions that can deliver immediate insights, automated workflows, and contextualized information will differentiate on speed, efficiency and client experience.

2. The rise of agentic AI: Automation with humans in the loop

2026 marks a shift from generative AI experimentation to agentic AI embedded in core banking infrastructure. AI agents will increasingly:

• Correct transaction errors
• Reconcile accounts
• Initiate updates and data validations
• Streamline exception handling
• Accelerate time-to-complete for operational processes

These capabilities reduce manual intervention and substantially improve straight-through processing. However, AI will never fully remove the need for human accountability. It’s important for banks to continue to operate with human oversight to ensure compliance, ethical stewardship and customer trust.

Impact:

Operational efficiency will rise dramatically, but governance and oversight frameworks must mature in parallel.

3. Tokenized money and digital assets enter the mainstream conversation

Tokenized deposits, stablecoins and digitally represented assets will be areas of significant exploration in 2026. Banks will test use cases that:

• Improve liquidity management
• Enable instant settlement
• Reduce cross-border friction
• Enhance transparency and trust
• Unlock new revenue opportunities

The shift isn’t about hype; it’s about solving real business problems and improving customer experience. Success will hinge on banks’ ability to change customer behavior (e.g., moving towards new payment types) and interoperate.

Impact:

While not all banks will deploy digital asset solutions at scale, nearly all will likely explore proofs of concept or pilots.

4. Cybersecurity and compliance take center stage

With more data flowing across more platforms, banks face rising exposure to:

• Fraud
• Geopolitical risk
• Third-party vulnerabilities
• Cross-ecosystem threats

As transaction volumes increase and infrastructures become more interconnected, security and compliance will become non-negotiable priorities.

Impact:

It’s important for banks to strengthen digital identity, fraud prevention, network security and regulatory intelligence to protect data, payments and customer trust.

5. The bank of 2026: Intelligent, interconnected, and human-centered

Tomorrow’s bank will rest on three pillars:

• Trusted data: Clean, high-quality and reliable data will be the foundation for real-time decision-making and AI-driven experiences.
• Scalable AI: AI that enhances personalization, makes proactive recommendations and supports decision-making while improving operational performance will take center stage.
• Ecosystem collaboration: Banks will be increasingly aware of the broader digital ecosystems in which they operate: marketplaces, platforms, partners, and industry networks. This ecosystem mindset reflects a shift in priority, from speed and cost to intelligence, interoperability, and trust.

Impact:

Success will depend on a bank’s ability to embed intelligence into every interaction while maintaining transparency and trust.

6. From reactive processes to autonomous intelligent ecosystems

Perhaps the most transformative prediction is that banks will begin moving from reactive workflows to self-guiding, self-repairing systems.

Examples include:

• Automatic error correction in transaction processing
• Payment routing that adapts autonomously
• AI-driven fraud detection that improves continuously
• Intelligent liquidity optimization

Yet in all cases, humans must remain responsible stewards—a theme repeated in many 2026 predictions.

Impact:

Autonomous systems will reduce operational load and improve resilience, but governance frameworks will be critical for safe adoption.

Building the bank of the future

The year ahead will push banks toward a new operating model—one defined by real-time intelligence, automation, rich data and strengthened trust. Banks that modernize their infrastructure, embrace ecosystem collaboration, secure their networks, and adopt AI responsibly will be best positioned to lead in 2026 and beyond.

For a conversation on these trends and predictions, contact me. Also, visit cgi.com for information on our work in positioning banks for the future.