On May 28, 2026 the Portfolio Financial IT 2026 conference brought together bank executives, IT decision-makers, top consultants, fintech founders and major banking IT suppliers to discuss how artificial intelligence is changing everyday banking, payments and sales. Presentations and panels highlighted several interrelated trends: AI is already delivering measurable value in parts of the financial sector, but broad integration and scaling remain challenging.
What the experts said
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Research presented by Schenk Tamás, partner at Deloitte, showed that AI has produced demonstrable value in the financial sector, while companies still struggle with effective integration of AI technologies.
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Kisfalvi Bence, director of banking solutions at SMP Solutions, argued that AI-based mobile applications aimed at improving sales network efficiency can substantially cut costs and increase revenues for large enterprises.
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Tihanyi Noémi (Head of Digitalization and RPA, Clarity Consulting) cautioned that despite the AI hype, established “silent” automation solutions — RPA, process analytics and similar technologies — continue to do the bulk of operational work. Many AI projects are still pilots; she said competitiveness will depend more on who can organize and scale their automation operations than on who adopts the most AI.
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Speakers also noted that while AI’s spread appears unstoppable, a sector-wide, dramatic efficiency breakthrough has yet to materialize in all areas; digitalization and AI are gradually shifting costs from headcount toward IT spending (capex and opex).
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John Ford (Paymentology) emphasized that much payment infrastructure is built on outdated, 20–30-year-old foundations, whereas the market demands real-time, cloud-native and globally scalable solutions. In a panel with Horányi Gergő of Wise they discussed how differing local regulations and legacy systems complicate fintech internationalization, even as customers expect uniformly fast and transparent services.
Risks and opportunities: fraud, security, costs
Panelists underlined that AI brings tangible benefits in fraud detection and product development, but its high costs and security risks require careful, deliberate application. Participants also discussed the evolving balance between labor and IT costs as digitalization deepens: personnel expenses may increasingly transform into IT capex/opex.
Fintechs vs. banks: partnership and competition
The sessions made clear that incumbent banks are unlikely to disappear, but the future will be defined by close cooperation with fintechs alongside intensified competition. Rapid fintech growth and renewed investor interest increase pressure on banks to modernize systems and meet customer expectations quickly.
Customer experience and AI agents
According to the Mastercard head in Hungary, presented at the conference, by 2030 as much as one quarter of online purchases could be initiated by AI agents rather than humans — and components of this technology are already accessible and being tested in Hungary. That prospect creates new challenges and opportunities for digital UX design, payments automation and security measures.
Conclusion
Portfolio Financial IT 2026 highlighted that AI already produces measurable benefits in parts of the financial industry, but many initiatives remain at pilot stage and face technical, regulatory and security hurdles before they scale. The priority will be to organize and scale existing automation foundations, modernize legacy systems and build effective partnerships with fintechs.
