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Janurary 2026 • Issue 26:01:01

Payments in 2026:

From promise to pressure test

AI grows up ... and gets audited
Few technologies have captured industry imagination as
forcefully as AI. In payments, it has already delivered real
value in fraud detection, transaction monitoring and cus-
tomer support automation. But after an initial wave of en-
thusiasm, expectations are shifting.

"Over the last 18 months, the 'AI will solve everything'
mindset has started to level out," said Robin Anderson, head
of product management at Tribe Payments. "The promise
remains, but expectations are evolving fast."

What's becoming clearer is that not all AI use cases are
equal, and not all are acceptable in regulated financial en-
vironments. Payments decisions carry consequences. When
or much of the past decade, payments innova- a transaction is declined, flagged or routed differently, pro-
tion has been defined by acceleration powered viders must be able to explain why.
by increasingly sophisticated technology. Faster
F checkout. Faster settlement. Faster onboarding. "Black-box reasoning may be acceptable for product recom-
Faster decisions. By the time 2025 drew to a close, the mendations," Anderson said. "It's not acceptable for regu-
industry had grown accustomed to constant motion and to lated financial processes."
the assumption that progress itself was the goal. In 2026,
that assumption begins to break down. This need for explainability is reshaping how AI is de-
ployed. Rather than racing to embed generative models
The coming year appears to be shaping up less as a vic- everywhere, many payments enterprises are narrowing
tory lap for innovation and more as a pressure test of trust, their focus to areas where AI can deliver measurable value
governance, resilience and operational reality. Artificial without undermining accountability. Fraud detection, risk
intelligence is moving from novelty to infrastructure. Digi- scoring and compliance triage top the list. Autonomous
tal wallets and instant payments are expanding globally. decision-making, by contrast, remains tightly constrained.
Stablecoins are edging out of crypto experiments and into
settlement discussions.

Meanwhile, fraud is scaling faster than ever, powered by Contributed articles inside by:
the same AI tools that promise efficiency gains. Regulators
are watching more closely. Consumers are becoming more Allen Kopelman .....................................................................................16
cautious. And merchants, squeezed by costs and complex-
ity, are demanding systems that work, not just technologies Scott Dawson .........................................................................................26
that impress.
Viktoria Soltesz ......................................................................................28
Across the payments ecosystem, a clear theme is emerging: Radi El Haj ................................................................................................30
2026 will not be about what can be built. It will be about
what can be trusted, explained, secured and sustained.
Continued on page 24