2026 FinTech Predictions: Insights from Ben Goldin of Plumery B.V.

We spoke with Ben Goldin, CEO and Founder of Plumery B.V., the digital banking development platform that unlocks velocity to build differentiation. Ben shares his perspectives on the most significant shifts facing financial services, from the accelerating adoption of agentic AI to the critical infrastructure decisions that will separate winners from losers in 2026.

Over to you Ben - my questions are in bold:

What's the biggest shift you expect across financial services in 2026?

The accelerating adoption and operationalisation of AI (particularly generative AI and agentic AI) that reconfigures customer interactions, product models and operating models - coupled with platformication (composable digital banking platforms, marketplaces and ecosystem models) and geopolitically driven sourcing changes - is the single most significant shift expected across financial services in 2026.

Which emerging technology will have the most practical impact on banks and the FinTechs that support them?

I think that I won't surprise anyone by saying that agentic AI will have the most practical impact on banks and the fintechs that support them - but its power comes with clear boundaries. These systems can automate complex end-to-end workflows, but they must operate within robust human-in-the-loop frameworks.

Agentic AI will transform banking operations, but its adoption must be paired with rigorous human oversight. The institutions that win will be those that combine autonomous AI for scale and efficiency with human judgment for fairness, governance, and trust.

What customer behaviours or expectations will most challenge banks and financial service providers?

The biggest challenge for banks will be meeting customers' expectations for instant, intelligent, and hyper-personalised financial experiences delivered with the same speed and quality they receive from the best consumer tech platforms.

Customers now expect their bank to behave like an intelligent, real-time financial partner. Their demand for instant, personalised, and proactive experiences will challenge every institution still running on slow, product-centric, legacy architectures.

What risks or blind spots do you think the industry is underestimating as we move into 2026?

The biggest blind spot is the industry's exaggerated expectation that agentic AI will seamlessly replace complex banking operations in 2026. Many institutions are underestimating the gap between AI's promised autonomy and its actual, dependable abilities, especially in regulated, high-stakes environments.

The industry is overestimating what agentic AI can safely do in a bank today, and underestimating the data, control, and oversight foundations required to make it reliable. Without those fundamentals, autonomy becomes a risk multiplier, not a transformation lever.

If you were advising a bank's leadership team today, what strategic priority should they focus on to stay competitive in 2026 and beyond?

The strategic priority should be building a modular, decoupled, API-first experience layer that lets the bank innovate independently of the core. This is what enables you to modernise progressively, launch new products in weeks instead of years, and deliver AI-driven capabilities at the pace customers expect - on an architecture built to stay relevant long after the hype cycle fades.

Thank you Ben! You can connect with Ben on his LinkedIn Profile and find out more about the company at https://plumery.com.