Financial Innovation Forum – Payments & RegTech 2026

Financial services is shifting from periodic, batch-based operations to real-time, data-rich, and compliance-by-design models. The Financial Innovation Forum – Payments & RegTech 2026 sits at the intersection of this change, gathering executives, policy makers and solution builders to address how payments innovation can scale safely under evolving regulatory frameworks. With instant payments accelerating globally, ISO 20022 data finally being put to work, and new rules around operational resilience and consumer protection taking hold, firms need clear strategies that marry growth with governance. This event focuses precisely on those pressure points: next‑gen payment rails, cross-border efficiency, fraud prevention, AML/KYC modernization, AI-driven monitoring, and the policy outlook that shapes them. For product leaders and compliance teams alike, it is an opportunity to benchmark against peers, hear case studies from early adopters, and understand where regulators are heading on topics like stablecoins, open banking/open finance, and data privacy. As part of the ongoing Financial Innovation Forum – Payments & RegTech series, the 2026 edition provides continuity—tracking what has worked, what has stalled, and what’s emerging as best practice. Attendees gain practical insights to de-risk launches, cut operational costs through automation, and turn compliance into a customer trust advantage.

Industry Relevance

For fintech, 2026 is a year of execution: instant payments rules are maturing, ISO 20022 enrichment enables smarter screening, and AI/ML is moving from proofs-of-concept into production-grade fraud and AML controls. At the same time, regulators are sharpening expectations on data quality, consumer duty, resilience and third‑party risk. Payments & RegTech is where these currents converge. The forum’s agenda mirrors the priorities facing fintech operators—reducing friction in onboarding, improving cross-border speed and transparency, embedding compliance in product flows, and preparing for open finance and digital money models. For product and risk leaders building multi-currency, cross-border services, sessions on compliance automation, transaction monitoring, and identity orchestration are directly actionable. Vendors and banks will showcase tools to streamline sanctions screening, KYB/KYC at scale, and real‑time risk scoring—capabilities that can unlock faster go‑to‑market while satisfying auditors. With London’s ecosystem of PSPs, challenger banks and regulators, the event offers a concentrated read on what will define competitive advantage in fintech over the next 12–24 months: data-driven compliance, interoperable rails, and customer trust built into every payment.

Our Coverage

Xace is not exhibiting at the 2026 forum. Our team will monitor sessions and publish a post‑event summary of the most actionable insights for payments and compliance leaders. If you’d like to discuss how these trends affect your payments operations or onboarding workflows, contact us to arrange a virtual meeting or product walkthrough. We’ll update this page with key takeaways and recommended resources after the event.

Key Topics

• Real-time and instant payments strategy and readiness

• RegTech automation for AML/KYC, sanctions and transaction monitoring

• ISO 20022 data enrichment and screening effectiveness

• Open banking/open finance and embedded payments

• Cross-border payments, interoperability and transparency

• AI/ML for fraud prevention and risk scoring

• Crypto, stablecoins and CBDC policy impacts on payments

• Operational resilience, third‑party risk and consumer protection