Fintech in 2025: The industry’s predictions for the year ahead
As technology evolves and consumer preferences shift, the fintech industry is constantly adapting to stay ahead. Featuring insights from ClearBank, Griffin, Broadridge, Zumo and more, FinTech Futures explores expert predictions for the future of the industry in 2025 and beyond.
Ironing out AI
AI will continue to play a huge role in 2025, with fairness, transparency and security in focus
Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be a core focus in the financial services industry, with companies finding innovative new ways to utilise the technology while regulators brace their support with a wave of new regulatory reforms, as seen with the EU AI Act, for example.
For Joseph Lo, head of enterprise platforms at Broadridge, 2025 will mark the year that AI moves “beyond text to become truly multimodal, incorporating pictures, videos, sounds, and even physical interactions through robotics”.
“AI will begin to take action on behalf of users, making decisions and simplifying complex tasks, fundamentally changing how we interact with computers,” comments Lo.
Lo adds: “All this will happen while firms globally place an even higher emphasis on trust and the role of new regulations globally.”
Dora Grant, chief risk officer at UK digital bank Griffin, says the focus of regulators on AI is “likely to intensify” next year, with the technology attracting “greater scrutiny, particularly around fairness, transparency and security”.
“Specific attention will be directed to the security and safety challenges AI poses for customer onboarding as well as ensuring good customer outcomes with AI-led customer service,” she adds.
Rui Dos Ramos, a senior solutions engineer at financial regtech company Fusion Risk Management, echoes this sentiment, emphasising how firms remain “particularly cautious about AI, awaiting clearer legislative guidelines”.
“The emphasis will increasingly fall on firms’ abilities to demonstrate robust control frameworks and risk assessment practices that keep pace with developing threats,” he comments.
Blockchain and stablecoins
2024 has seen a number of notable initiatives aimed at further establishing blockchain across the industry, setting the stage for fresh innovations to emerge next year.
Examples of such initiatives include Dubai-based Commercial Bank International’s exploration of sustainable digital asset solutions in partnership with digital assets-as-a-service platform Zumo.
Zumo CEO and founder, Nick Jones, says the rising adoption of blockchain is leading to “a plethora of use cases being unlocked in adjacent industries”.
“For example, blockchain is helping to train the large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, that businesses are increasingly relying on to boost efficiency,” he explains.
Another example of blockchain’s impact on the financial industry is the growing use of stablecoins for cross-border transactions, as Chloe Mayenobe, president and COO of B2B payments infrastructure firm Thunes, highlights.
“What’s exciting here is their ability to boost business efficiencies – through reducing volatility, speeding up transactions, and improving liquidity,” comments Mayenobe.
She continues: “And while we’ve seen some early adoption in this space, we see 2025 as a turning point for stablecoin use, which will redefine how businesses and individuals move money across borders.”
Sean Forward, business manager, digital currency at ClearBank, echoes this belief, stating that a “tipping point for stablecoin use in payments” will soon be reached.
“But to truly realise the benefits they bring to wholesale payments will require banks to step in and deliver the infrastructure to support them,” adds Forward.
“Otherwise, they run the risk of being sidelined by firms that create momentum in retail payments and look to shift that experience over to wholesale markets.”
ESG reporting
Quality data is a necessity for ESG reporting
Quality data is a necessity for reporting processes across the industry, particularly in light of the growing emphasis on climate responsibility.
When it comes to ESG reporting, while regulatory frameworks continue to evolve globally, Andrea Fritschi, chief investment officer at Swiss early-stage venture capital firm Tenity, sees data quality and standardisation as “the real challenge” to overcome next year.
“The rush to establish climate reporting standards will hit a critical technology bottleneck in 2025,” she says, which will lead to “the emergence of specialised ‘data harmonisation’ platforms that can ensure consistency across regions and frameworks”.
For Fritschi, European firms will be best equipped to lead the development of solutions that can handle complex, multi-jurisdiction reporting given their experience with the continent’s growing regulatory framework, which includes the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
She continues: “The key differentiator won’t be regulatory knowledge but the ability to deliver reliable, consistent ESG data at scale.”
CSRD will expand sustainability reporting requirements for both large firms and SMEs, requiring them to disclose financial and non-financial data regarding their impact on the environment.
Picking up on this development is Raquel Orejas, who serves as impact director at Payhawk, a business spend management platform.
Orejas says the rise of CSRD will mark “a turning point for ESG transparency and accountability” in 2025, as reporting and assessments become more standardised.
“We can expect to see more businesses leveraging new carbon tracking solutions that are embedded directly into spend management platforms,” she comments.
In conclusion
2025 brings the promise of significant transformation for fintech and the wider financial industry, accelerated by advancements in AI, blockchain and data aggregation.
AI will continue to enhance decision making and operational efficiency, while the growth of blockchain will see the rise of new cross-border payments use cases across industries.
Meanwhile, the new year will look to bring more standardisation across ESG reporting processes and an increased regulatory focus on data transparency.
Overall, 2025 will likely be a year of innovation and adaptation, where technological integration and regulatory navigation will define success for the fintech industry.
