What’s in the cards for financial services in 2026?

Financial services is entering an era where small gaps in customer experience are becoming much more visible to consumers. In this industry, customer communications often touch sensitive moments like managing money and making long-term financial decisions. People pay close attention to these interactions and remember when something feels unclear or out of place.

Late last year, we released Sinch Predictions 2026, our expert look at how customer communications will evolve in the year ahead. From AI-powered conversations to new expectations around trust, personalization, and channel habits, the message was clear: The rules of engagement are changing fast.

So how do Sinch Predictions 2026 look when applied to a financial services context?

Below, we look at each trend through the lens of banking, insurance, and wealth management. You’ll see practical examples of how these shifts are already influencing marketing, service, and customer journeys – and what business leaders should be thinking about in 2026.

Let’s turn the first card.

For years, banks have relied on alerts and notifications that inform consumers, but they don’t necessarily invite interaction. But customers increasingly expect to ask questions, take action, and get help immediately, especially when money is involved.

Almost one in three consumers get frustrated when they can’t respond to a transactional business message. Financial brands that turn notifications into conversations will stand out fast. And starting this year, AI agents will begin enabling this shift.

For instance, imagine a bank’s AI detecting that a customer’s credit score has increased significantly. Instead of waiting for the customer to notice, the bank proactively sends a simple message that lets the customer know their credit score went up, and that their new score could unlock better rates on future loans.

With a simple button like [See what changed], a routine update can become a meaningful conversation. FinTech and Payments expert Panagiotis Kriaris thinks this shift will be fundamentally changed by AI.

“Financial services have historically been built around systems and workflows. As a result, the communication model has been broadcast-first, with limited personalization and one-way messages. Now AI fundamentally changes that setup. Communication becomes context-aware, intent-aware, adaptive, and two-way by default.”

Panagiotis Kriaris FinTech and Payments Leader

The same can apply to high-friction processes like loan applications. Instead of long forms, customers will talk with AI agents that guide them through the process conversationally, answering questions in real time and removing uncertainty along the way.

For a long time, automation in financial services has been designed to shorten interactions and reduce workload. From the customer’s perspective, that often shows up as a faster resolution and a conversation that ends as soon as the issue is closed.

That’s starting to change.

As AI agents become better at understanding context and intent, they can be used to show up at moments when financial services customers are already engaged and paying attention. Nearly half of businesses (47%) already use AI for predictive communications, which makes it possible to act on these moments in real-time.

When someone finishes paying off a car loan, for example, an AI can follow up with a pre-approved refinance or savings option that fits their situation. After a service issue is resolved, an AI can surface a relevant next step while the interaction is still top of mind.

In these moments, customers are already invested in the conversations so relevant next steps feel timely and useful rather than intrusive.

In 2026 and beyond, AI agents will also play roles in retention. When account activity drops or behavior changes, an AI can check in early, offer a tailored incentive, or connect the customer with a human advisor before frustration builds. For customers, that feels less like a sales pitch and more like timely support.

When financial issues are urgent or emotional, many consumers want to talk rather than type. In fact, for important financial matters, consumers prefer voice or video calls more than twice as often as email.

But up until recently, automation hasn’t been able to meet that expectation with traditional Interactive Voice Response (IVR) menus. That could be why 85 percent of consumers say they hate traditional IVR!

Voice AI is changing that. Modern voice agents can now respond at near-human speed and understand intent in real time, making it easier for people to explain a situation naturally and get help without friction.

This matters in high-stakes situations like fraud. When consumers can’t quickly understand why something was blocked or what to do next, confusion can escalate fast.

Kevin Wei, a former PM for payments at both Coinbase and Square, says that the communication of fraud decisions to customers can be just as important as the decisions themselves.

“Have you ever had a payment blocked and had no idea why, especially at the worst possible moment? The communication of fraud decisions can be just as important as the decisions themselves. Give too little context when blocking a payment, and users get frustrated while support costs spike as they call in for answers. Give too much, and savvy users can reverse-engineer your system.”

Kevin Wei Former PM for payments at Coinbase and Square

Voice AI gives financial brands a way to handle these moments more naturally. A customer who notices fraudulent, high-value transactions can explain the situation in their own words, while a voice agent can understand context and take action immediately.

Or consider an insurance claim after an accident late at night. Instead of waiting for business hours or navigating menus, a Voice AI can issue a claim number, ask follow-up questions, and arrange assistance, all in one natural conversation.

After years of broken IVR experiences, customers now know what’s possible. That’s why, this year, voice will become the channel where financial brands either meet expectations for complex support, or visibly fall short.

For a long time, financial messages have been designed to deliver information and move on. Payment reminders, balance updates, and confirmations tell people what’s happening, but not what they can do next.

But consumers get upset by transactional messages that don’t let them respond or take action. To address that, messages like payment reminders could have buttons like “Pay now” or “Request an extension” to let someone resolve their issue immediately, without logging into an app or switching channels.

Rich messaging channels like RCS or WhatsApp support this kind of interaction, making it easier for customers to respond, ask questions, and take action in the moment. This can make engagement improve because the customer experience feels faster and more practical.

And as Ashley Gross, CEO of the AI Workforce Alliance, points out, consumers experience financial messaging as a single conversation.

“Your customers don’t see “channels.” They just see one conversation with your brand. For most businesses, that conversation is fragmented. SMS is in one tool, email in another, and voice sits on its own island. This disconnect creates friction, especially in FinTech and Financial Services, where every interaction is a matter of trust.”

Ashley Gross CEO & Founder, AI Workforce Alliance

The same expectation shows up when consumers are evaluating options. For example, an insurance customer can answer a few questions in a message thread, receive an instant estimate, and move forward with a human agent when needed. For the customer, the experience feels conversational and continuous. For the brand, it removes friction – and over time, it shapes what consumers expect financial messages to help them do.

Having to repeat the same information over and over is frustrating, especially when the issue involves money or personal details.

Yet this is still a common experience in financial services: A customer starts with a website form, continues in chat, and then calls for help, only to explain the situation from the beginning. Each handoff adds friction and chips away at trust.

And by now, we know that more than 80 percent of consumers react negatively when they’re asked to repeat themselves, and for some, it’s enough to undermine confidence in the brand altogether.

Amanda Estiverne-Colas, a leader in the fintech and payments space, describes why it’s so important for banks to meet their customers where they are.

“Banks don’t win loyalty through transactions. They win it through conversations. When a customer feels recognized – by voice, by context, by intent – that’s not just efficiency. That’s emotional equity. And emotional equity is what builds loyalty in moments that actually matter: fraud alerts, payment issues, financial stress, life transitions.”

Amanda Estiverne-Colas Head of Payments Practice at Perficient

This year and beyond, stronger financial experiences will depend on better continuity. When a support agent answers a call, they’ll already know what was discussed in chat. When a financial advisor meets a new prospect, they’ll see which content the person engaged with beforehand. For customers, that continuity signals attention and care — and over time, it’s what turns smooth interactions into lasting loyalty.

Consumers in different regions use different channels, respond to different formats, and expect different kinds of interactions. WhatsApp dominates in markets like Brazil, while RCS is gaining traction in the U.S. and parts of Europe. In Asia, super-apps like WeChat are entire ecosystems. That’s why global financial brands can’t rely on one-size-fits-all playbook.

In 2026, financial services organizations will need to design for this reality. A global product launch might look like an interactive WhatsApp conversation in one market, and a branded RCS message in another. And the message, format, and cost model change based on how consumers actually engage in those markets.

The brands that lead will be the ones that blend global standards with local execution, investing in the channels customers already trust and use every day rather than forcing the same experience everywhere.

Unfortunately for financial services, years of scams, spoofed messages, and fake fraud alerts have trained people to be skeptical of any unexpected communication. Even real messages often raise suspicion.

And according to Mariana Antaya, Product Manager at Microsoft, this is a more common problem than many may think.

“People have experience with fraud and now with deepfakes coming more and more into the picture, knowing that your info is secure is more important than ever. With AI powered scams up against us, finserv needs to adapt and change at an unprecedented rate.”

Mariana Antaya Product Manager at Microsoft

That’s why it’s more imperative than ever for financial brands to make trust obvious the moment a message arrives.

That starts with clearly verified communications. A fraud alert should show up with the bank’s official name, logo, and a visible verification badge, along with simple actions like “Confirm” or “Report fraud.” These visual signals matter because nearly 8 in 10 consumers say verified messages with recognizable branding make them more likely to trust that the message is safe, but more than half have mistaken legitimate messages for scams.

Security also needs to feel easier. Consumers are losing patience with one-time passwords and manual verification. Instead, authentication will increasingly happen in the background. For example, when making a large wire transfer, a bank can silently check that a device hasn’t been compromised and use biometric approval, like Face ID, to complete the transaction.

Email continues to play a central role in financial services communications, where customers expect context and relevance.

Recently, AI-powered inboxes have become far better at filtering messages based on relevance. Emails that feel loosely targeted or generic are getting ignored, even if they include a first name or basic segmentation.

To earn attention, financial brands will need to send emails that clearly reflect customer intent. If someone browses mortgage rates or refinancing options, the follow-up email should acknowledge that behavior with a tailored estimate, rate range, or next step rather than a general product message.

Email will also become more conversational. Customers will increasingly reply, ask questions, and get answers from AI-powered assistants directly in the inbox, turning email into an ongoing financial dialogue rather than a one-way send.

Taken together, these predictions point to a shift in how financial services brands should operate in 2026 and beyond. Customer expectations are rising, and they’re shaped by everyday experiences people now have with technology, not by how financial institutions have traditionally operated.

Across every channel, consumers are signaling the same thing: They want conversations that are clear and connected, messages they can respond to, and security that reassures them without slowing them down. And they expect brands to remember context, whether they’re moving from a message to a call, or from a form to a conversation.

The opportunity for business leaders is to not rebuild everything at once, but to focus on the moments that matter most by asking where expectations and experiences are out of sync today.

The brands that start making those changes now will be better positioned to win in the coming years because they made customer communications feel more coherent and trustworthy. That’s the real takeaway from these predictions — and the place where preparation turns into advantage.

At Sinch, we’re helping businesses bring this future to life by building technology that helps make every interaction more trusted and more human. Curious to know how our team can help? Let’s chat!

Author: Megan Libby Megan is a Sr. Content Marketing Manager at Sinch, leading thought leadership and content initiatives around SMS/MMS, RCS, and omnichannel messaging topics.