A latest Visa survey covering 17 European countries, including eight Central and Eastern European (CEE) markets, finds that banks in the region have broadly adopted artificial intelligence (AI) for customer relationship management and product development. Respondents said the technology is currently used mainly to reduce operating costs and improve internal efficiency, although focus may shift in future toward lending, fraud prevention and direct enhancements to customer experience.
According to the survey, 77% of regional banks apply AI to customer interactions and 71% use it in product development. Those rates match UK figures and in several areas exceed comparable German or French results. At the same time, Italian and Nordic markets report around 80% adoption in some areas, indicating further room for growth across the industry.
Most banks in the region today prioritize AI for optimizing internal processes and cutting costs: fewer than half of respondents consider improving customer experience their primary objective. Industry practitioners expect this to change in the coming years, with more customer-facing improvements such as automated processing of documents for credit decisions, advanced customer-service chatbots and taking over routine tasks, which can speed and simplify client interactions.
The survey also highlights a lag in lending and risk management: while banks in Nordic countries apply AI in lending and insurance in more than 80% of cases, the share is only 46% in the CEE region. A similar gap appears in cyber security and fraud prevention: roughly one-third of regional institutions treat AI use for these purposes as a top priority, despite the growing importance of the area given increasingly sophisticated, often machine-learning–based abuses.
Experts say AI creates real business value only when supported by modern infrastructure, well-structured data and real-time decision-making capabilities, all operating within a secure regulatory framework.
Where this will be discussed
The topic of AI in banking will be part of the Portfolio Banking Technology conference on November 10, 2026, where bank executives will dive into technological and business aspects. The event organizers have published registration details and further information.
An AI assistant contributed to preparing this article; the final content was edited and verified by our journalist.
