At the Banking Technology 2026 conference, Claudio Di Nella, European Senior Vice President at Visa Consulting and Analytics, argued that artificial intelligence and payment data are fundamentally reshaping the banking customer experience. He said payments have moved from a back-office, cost-centre mindset to become a core element of customer relationship, loyalty and lifetime value.
Hungary sees outsized growth toward neobanks and fintech
Di Nella highlighted particularly strong growth in Hungary: retail flows into fintech providers and neobanks more than doubled between 2024 and 2025. He also noted a visible shift in online card-not-present transaction patterns, with 21 percent of that volume appearing as fintech account top-ups or movements related to neobanks.
Customer expectations and AI-driven personalization
Citing Visa’s own research, Di Nella said a substantial share of customers would switch banks for a relevant AI-based, personalized financial advisory service — the study indicates this could be as high as 84 percent. Additionally, 76 percent of consumers are more likely to buy from brands that offer personalized interactions.
He emphasized that financial institutions must evolve from static account custodians into dynamic partners that not only understand customer needs but also proactively turn passive customers into active financial optimizers.
Fintech momentum across Europe
Di Nella described growing adoption of alternative providers across Europe: volumes flowing to fintech firms and neobanks grew by 26 percent year-on-year in advanced Western European markets and by nearly 40 percent in Central and Eastern Europe. Overall, 58 percent of consumers have already tried some fintech solution.
Neobanks typically follow a recognisable playbook: they start with a specific use case (for example travel, SME services or creators), then deepen engagement with convenience features — account sharing, digital wallet integration, subscription management — and follow with targeted cross-sell and upsell offers, ultimately seeking to capture the full banking relationship.
Example: Revolut’s market position
The presentation referenced Revolut as a leading retail financial innovator: it tops app-download charts in 19 European markets, reached 80 million customers, and reported account balances growing 66 percent year-on-year. The company has begun building physical presence in several European countries and entered consumer lending and mortgage markets.
Operational efficiency and risk management with AI
Visa argues AI can transform not only personalization but also operational efficiency and risk control. Real-time decisioning around transaction disputes, chargebacks and fraud can lower operating costs while improving the customer experience. For example, instead of immediately blocking a customer’s entire payment instrument after a suspicious transaction, an app could automatically issue a new digital card identifier so the customer’s ability to pay is not interrupted while the risk remains controlled.
Three priorities for banks in the AI era
Di Nella set out three main tasks for banks:
- Winning customers: offering distinctive, easy-to-use and context-aware value propositions.
- Building the data and AI engine: establishing the technology, data governance and control processes that enable personalization at scale.
- Modernizing the user experience: not merely a design issue but balancing convenience, low cost, customer control, appropriate context and the ‘‘cool factor’’ that encourages adoption.
Conclusion
According to the Banking Technology 2026 presentation, Hungary has experienced rapid growth in retail flows to neobanks and fintechs, while AI and payment data create new opportunities for personalization, efficiency and risk management. Banks face the challenge of transforming technology, data practices and user experience simultaneously to remain competitive in a fast-evolving market.
