FinTech Strategy

Every organisation running a Risk and Control Self-Assessment programme is sitting on a goldmine of intelligence. Most treat it like a compliance filing cabinet. Updated periodically, reviewed by committee, archived until the next cycle. Heatmaps get produced, RAG statuses get refreshed, and everyone moves on. Meanwhile, the COO is trying to understand operational fragility, the CFO is modelling downside scenarios, and the CEO is preparing for a board challenge on risk appetite.

Bank‑to‑business lending growth is expected to halve to just 3.5% this year, driven by global tensions, higher funding costs and ongoing economic uncertainty. For many small and medium‑sized enterprises (SMEs), this means tighter credit conditions and a growing risk of a funding gap. And at a time when fast, flexible capital is essential. Traditional lenders will remain central to SME finance, but slower lending growth naturally limits how quickly banks can meet demand.

When a traveller in Barcelona makes arrangements for their next trip to Bali, the experience feels immediate. A few clicks, a confirmation, and the journey is set. But behind that seamless user interface lies a financial chain of considerable complexity: airlines, online travel agencies, hotel wholesalers, local operators, and payment providers spanning multiple currencies, time zones, and regulatory environments that rarely align neatly with one another.

In February 2026, stablecoin payments surpassed traditional ACH bank transfers for the first time. This marked a real turning point for finance’s shift to on-chain rails. A trend set to further accelerate with the growing number of AI agents with access to funds. Key financial services players are taking notice. Mastercard is betting big on blockchain via its $1.8 billion acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure startup, BVNK.

AI adoption across the UK insurance sector continues to accelerate, yet the impact is falling short of the industry’s expectations. The narrative is now shifting beyond systems that analyse data and generate recommendations towards agentic AI. Capable of taking action, whether that means initiating claims processes, identifying potential fraud in real time, refining underwriting decisions or triggering next-best actions.

The modern CFO has more responsibilities than ever before, with a 2024 study finding that over 80% had taken on additional demands in the previous two years. As the report points out, “CFO is not a finance role.

At first glance, finance and accounting appear to be ideal environments for AI integration. The work is structured, rules-driven and built on numerical data, which AI can automate and process at scale and speed. As such, it’s ideal for much of the repetitive work — such as invoice capture, reconciliations, reporting, and anomaly detection. These tasks still consume so much time and reduce space and capacity for strategic and creative thinking.

The UK insurance industry has made significant strides in modernising almost every function it touches. From actuarial pricing and underwriting analytics to claims handling and customer engagement, through data and, increasingly, AI. Distribution, however, hasn’t had the same focus. This is not through a lack of ambition.

The accepted wisdom in cybersecurity is that the Security Operations Centre (SOC) has become overwhelmed. There’s some truth in this. Yes, the time taken to detect and remediate has grown, with IBM stating this now stands at 241 days. Yes, alert fatigue remains an issue, with SOC analysts snowed under 10,000 alerts per day leading to confirmation bias whereby positive alerts are discounted.

The EU’s DORA regulation has exposed how firms operating in private markets face a set of risks that is not purely about IT. Designed to reduce financial sector reliance on a small number of infrastructure vendors, the regulation came into force last year. Since implementation it continues to throw a spotlight on risks arising from continued use of manual methods and over-reliance on individual employees’ subject matter expertise.