SaaScada’s 2026 fintech predictions

From an ongoing struggle to deliver AI ROI to regulations forcing banks to improve hit their ESG goals, 2026 is going to be a truly transformative year as the UK banking ecosystem grapples with major challenges. 

• FS firms will struggle to move past superficial AI in 2026, hamstrung by legacy tech and a lack of ambition

In 2026, the financial services sector will find that it needs to change the way it utilises AI.   While there is talk of AI-native or agentic banks coming soon that can serve every global niche, the truth is that this requires deeper transformation, and many would struggle to implement more advanced AI use cases as they are hampered by legacy tech foundations and poor quality data. 

On the flipside, flexible fintechs and challenger banks with real-time access to data have begun embedding AI into their business models to create real value. This requires an overhaul of team mindsets and data capabilities. By identifying suitable use cases for AI, rather than simply treating it as a hammer without a nail, innovative banks will transform their ability to work effectively in 2026.

Nelson Wootton, CEO and Co-Founder, SaaScada

• Stablecoins will transform cross-border payments for innovators - both businesses and nation states 

As cross-border payments continue to present a major challenge to the banking industry with slow speeds, high costs and a lack of transparency all creating headaches, stablecoins are primed to shake up the industry in 2026. By their very nature, these let users make far faster cross-border money transfers and do not have the same volatility and price fluctuations as other cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin.

These factors mean that international payments providers are becoming more interested in stablecoins as a way of avoiding legacy guardrails around international payments, while still providing a secure cross-border service. But, even with SWIFT’s announcement of supporting stablecoins, FS firms restricted by monolithic legacy tech and slow-moving regulators will be left behind. This reliance on modern technology means we’ll see greater geographic divergence between those territories with good governance and the rest, as leaders find ways to access stablecoin platforms and facilitate faster cross-border transactions at scale.

Nelson Wootton, CEO and Co-Founder, SaaScada

• Banks will be pushed to move sustainability back to the top of their agenda 

In recent years, major banks have withdrawn from their sustainability goals, with leading industry body the Net Zero Banking Alliance shutting down. This retreat comes down to a combination of factors, including political backlash against sustainable investments and the need to align with national interests rather than long-term global sustainability goals, and reflects a broader trend where immediate financial gain is overtaking long-term environmental and social goals.

However, 2026 will see banks come under renewed pressure from governing bodies, such as the European Central Bank, to hit their goals around sustainability and inclusivity, with some shifting their portfolios to make balanced decisions around climate change. This is vital, with UN Head António Guterres stating we have missed the 1.5C goal for global heating in the lead-up to COP30.

However, Europe lags behind other regions on sustainability. In Africa, green microfunds or climate agricultural loans are already growing as a form of embedded finance for farmers. In certain countries, embedded finance will create major economic growth. Sustainability must become a core consideration for banks, especially as climate factors are increasingly applied to lending to penalise lending against assets which are exposed to increasingly acute climate risk.

Steve Round, President and Co-Founder, SaaScada

• AI-native software engineering will transform the power of the possible for individual developers 

Every industry, including financial services, will experience the full impact of AI-native software engineering. What was once a concept with potential has become the new normal across many dev teams over the course of 2025. This isn't just about coding agents; AI will positively disrupt the entire software development lifecycle. Existing software engineering teams can achieve significant productivity gains if they embrace this paradigm shift. "10x engineers" could become "100x engineers," but each team will need to carefully navigate the intense rate of innovation and change among model and tool providers to fully unlock these gains. Traditional work tracking tools like Jira, GitHub, and GitLab are evolving, but a new era of fully integrated, end-to-end SDLC tools may emerge, providing all-in-one environments for AI-powered product planning, requirements analysis, technical design, prototyping, coding, deployment, and testing.

The ability to predict where AI capabilities will be in 6–12 months will become a critical part of the product management process. The best engineering teams will take calculated risks on where and how to constrain AI behaviour so their software performs better with each subsequent model release, allowing them to ride the wave of innovation. This presents a generational opportunity but also a significant risk when operating in regulated environments.

AI will also enable bad actors to accomplish much more with fewer resources. Engineering teams will embrace AI as a tool not only for feature development but also to protect themselves from increasingly sophisticated attacks.