Financial services firms spent $35 billion on AI in 2023, with total investment across banking, insurance, capital markets, and payments expected to reach $97 billion by 2027. This level of spending makes one thing clear. AI is no longer experimental. It has become the backbone of modern fintech.
Eddie Gravalese, founder and CEO of Edge Consultant, Gravalese Realty Inc., and GLM Gravalese Realty LLC, explains that in 2026, AI will go beyond minor upgrades. It will reshape operations, influencing payments, lending decisions, fraud detection, and the integration of financial services into everyday digital experiences.
AI will no longer support these systems. But it will empower them. The next wave of AI will be defined by smarter AI-powered payment orchestration, real-time risk and credit intelligence, and embedded finance that scales efficiently.
Let’s take a closer look at what fintech leaders can do now to stay ahead in 2026.
Why Early AI Adoption Gives Fintech Leaders an Edge?
Getting started with AI now sets the stage for fully AI-driven operations in 2026. Companies that wait risk falling behind competitors already using AI to make faster, smarter decisions. Here’s why acting today matters:
- AI finds patterns in transaction data that humans might miss.
- Tasks in payments, lending, and risk management can run automatically, freeing teams for higher-value work.
- AI adjusts in real time to network changes, fraud trends, and customer behavior, keeping operations smooth and efficient.
Eddie Gravalese’s Insights on AI in Fintech
Eddie Gravalese has extensive experience across payments, risk management, lending, and embedded finance. His insights show how fintech companies can approach AI in 2026. By leveraging AI, companies can:
- Improve payment success while reducing friction from fraud.
- Make fairer decisions in real time.
- Scale efficiently without compromising customer experience.
How AI Will Make Payments and Digital Wallets Smarter?
Payments feel simple to customers. Someone clicks a button, and money moves seamlessly from one account to another. Behind the scenes, many systems work together to make that transaction successful. AI manages that complexity without adding friction. In 2026, AI-powered payment orchestration focuses on one goal: getting the transaction approved at the lowest cost, every time.
Payments Will Route Themselves in Real Time
Payment routing used to rely on fixed rules earlier. Those rules worked until conditions changed, networks slowed down, fees increased, and approval rates dropped. Thus, AI solves this instantly. AI reviews live signals such as location, payment method, network performance, and past approval data. It chooses the best route for each transaction in real time that leads to:
- Higher approval rates
- Fewer retries
- Lower processing costs
Approval Rates Will Improve Quietly
Customers rarely think about approval rates unless something goes wrong and a payment fails. AI helps prevent those failures. AI systems automatically adjust to determine which payment routes work in different situations. Over time, the system starts making smarter choices without any manual effort. The improvement feels quiet but consistent.
Costs Will Drop Through Smarter Decisions
Payment costs add up quickly, especially at scale. AI helps reduce unnecessary fees by selecting efficient routes and avoiding failed transactions. This approach protects margins without sacrificing customer experience.
Wallets Will Choose the Best Option for Users
Digital wallets are also changing. In 2026, wallets will do much more than just store cards. Instead of asking users to decide, the wallet operates in the background, making intelligent choices and simplifying everyday payments. Thus, AI-powered wallets can:
- Pick the best payment option automatically.
- Avoid extra fees.
- Manage recurring payments.
- Flag unusual activity early.
How Will AI Redefine Fraud, Risk, and Trust?
Fraud prevention has always been a balancing act. Strong controls protect the business but frustrate customers. However, weak controls invite losses. AI-driven fraud and risk intelligence here strikes the right balance, allowing fraud and risk systems to focus less on rules and more on understanding user behavior.
- False Declines Decrease: AI reduces unnecessary declines by understanding context. It knows when behavior fits a regular pattern, even if it looks unusual at first glance.
- Risk Decisions Happen Instantly: AI evaluates risk in real time. This allows fintech teams to stop fraud earlier, reduce manual reviews, and keep checkout flows smooth.
- Fraud is Stopped in Earlier Stages: AI models spot patterns humans would miss, especially across channels. Thus, taking action in earlier stages reduces losses and builds trust.
How Will AI Transform Lending and Credit Intelligence?
Lending decisions have a real impact on people and businesses. AI helps make those decisions fairer, faster, and more accurately. Thus, in 2026, lenders will rely less on static credit scores and more on real-time financial behavior to assess risk and opportunity.
Credit Scores Will Lose Importance
Traditional credit scores only look at the past and often miss what’s happening in the current times. Therefore, AI takes a broader view and helps lenders get a clearer picture of a person’s or business’s real financial health in the form of:
- Cash flow trends
- Payment history
- Spending patterns
- Business activity
Cash Flow Will Guide Decisions
Cash flow tells a clearer story than a single score. AI analyzes cash movement in and out to understand a borrower’s ability to repay. This approach makes credit more accessible while responsibly managing risk.
Credit Access Will Expand Responsibly
Many borrowers struggle to qualify under traditional models. Here, AI opens doors for small businesses, freelancers, and younger consumers. With better data insights, lenders can make smarter decisions.
Decisions Will Update Over Time
Lending no longer needs to end at approval. AI enables continuous credit monitoring of a borrower’s financial health. It gives borrowers more flexibility, letting lenders reduce defaults. Thus, lenders can adjust limits, pricing, or repayment terms as conditions change.
How Will AI Power Embedded Finance and Cost Efficiency?
Embedded finance brings payments, lending, and financial tools into apps or other platforms people already use. AI makes this model work at scale. In 2026, embedded finance feels natural rather than forced. Here’s how:
- Financial Tools Will Fit Inside Daily Workflows: AI understands context. It helps deliver the financial tool at exactly the right time, without disrupting the user’s flow. It includes financing options at checkout, instant payouts within creator platforms, and expense tracking within business software.
- Payments and Lending Will Feel Invisible: The best embedded finance doesn’t interrupt the experience. AI removes extra steps and decisions so users can complete tasks while financial services run quietly in the background.
- Onboarding Will Move Faster: AI speeds up onboarding by automating identity checks and risk reviews. Faster onboarding improves conversion rates and reduces drop-off. This makes it easier for new users to start using financial services.
- Compliance Will Run in the Background: Compliance remains essential. But AI helps manage it efficiently through transaction monitoring, ongoing risk checks, and reporting workflows. Therefore, the platform stays compliant without slowing growth or adding friction for users.
- Teams Will Scale Without Growing Headcount: Cost efficiency is more important than ever. AI automates tasks that previously required large teams. It has allowed fintech companies to scale embedded finance without matching cost growth.
Where is Fintech Heading in 2026?
AI adoption is not just a technology decision. It is a business strategy. The fintech leaders should treat AI as core infrastructure. It must connect directly to payments, risk, and customer experience systems. Customers will notice: payments that rarely fail, fewer false fraud alerts, faster access to credit, and financial tools that feel built into their daily lives. That is the real power of AI when applied thoughtfully.
Eddie Gravalese on How AI Will Transform Fintech in 2026!
AI has become the foundation of modern fintech in 2026. The leaders who want to succeed will focus on practical outcomes by using AI. It will improve payment success, reduce friction from fraud, expand credit access, and embed finance where customers already operate. That way, the fintech companies that act today will define how money will move tomorrow.
Let Eddie Gravalese, a senior fintech leader, build scalable, efficient financial systems that support long-term growth.
