With insights fresh from the FinovateEurope 2026 conference in London, we sit down with fintech specialist Kofi Ndaikate to unpack the industry’s most pressing conversations. His expertise offers a unique lens on the complex interplay between innovation and security, as we explore how financial institutions are navigating the pressures of relentless cyber threats and new regulations. Our discussion will delve into the practical applications of agentic AI in fighting financial crime, the untapped potential of stablecoins in treasury and wealth management, and the cultural dynamics shaping the future of bank-fintech partnerships. We’ll also touch on the adoption challenges facing new payment methods and what it truly takes to build a successful collaboration in today’s fast-paced ecosystem.
Fraud prevention teams face pressure from relentless innovation, cybercriminals, and new regulations. How can mobile threat intelligence help them become more proactive, and what specific steps can a bank take to move from fragmented point solutions to an orchestrated compliance ecosystem?
The pressure on fraud prevention teams is immense; it feels like they’re being squeezed from three sides at once. You have relentless innovation creating new channels, cybercriminals constantly hammering away with new tactics like device takeover attacks, and regulators imposing more obligations to reimburse victims. The old way of simply reacting is no longer viable. This is where a proactive stance, borrowing lessons from cybersecurity, becomes critical. Mobile threat intelligence is a key part of this shift, allowing teams to anticipate and see attacks forming before they hit. To move beyond a disjointed approach, banks need to build a truly orchestrated ecosystem. This starts with leveraging data more effectively, as seen in successful partnerships like HSBC’s work with Google AI suites. The goal is to create a seamless, interconnected system where different security and compliance tools talk to each other, breaking down silos and providing a unified defense rather than a patchwork of disconnected alarms.
With agentic AI expected to close the digital gap, how can traditional banks best leverage it to combat financial crime? Can you provide an example of how this technology would work in practice and how it might outperform systems used by digital challengers?
It’s true that digital challengers have historically had an edge in integrating new technologies like AI because their infrastructure is inherently more flexible. However, agentic AI is poised to be a great equalizer, and perhaps even give incumbents an advantage. Traditional banks can leverage this technology to overhaul their legacy systems without a complete rip-and-replace. Imagine an agentic AI system that acts as an intelligent, autonomous analyst. It could monitor transactions across multiple, previously siloed departments in real-time, cross-referencing payment data with customer behavior, KYC information, and even external threat intelligence feeds. If it detects a pattern indicative of a sophisticated fraud ring, it wouldn’t just flag it; it could autonomously initiate an investigation, freeze suspicious accounts, compile a report for human review, and even adapt its own detection parameters for the future. This deep integration with a bank’s vast historical data could allow it to identify nuanced threats that a challenger’s newer, smaller dataset might miss, effectively closing that digital gap.
Some describe stablecoins as simply “tokenized money” for efficient international payments. What are the most promising treasury and wealth management applications for banks using this technology? Please walk us through the practical steps needed to integrate these use cases into their operations.
The description of stablecoins as “tokenized money” is spot on, and it’s a crucial concept for demystifying the technology. We’re not talking about exotic, volatile assets; we’re talking about making the movement of money more efficient. For banks, the implications for treasury management are huge. Imagine instantaneous, 24/7 settlement for cross-border transactions, dramatically reducing counterparty risk and freeing up liquidity. In wealth management, the future lies in tokenizing real-world assets. Equities, bonds, and real estate are gradually being brought onto the blockchain, which will create more liquid markets and fractional ownership opportunities for clients. To integrate this, the first practical step is embracing regulatory clarity. Banks don’t operate in gray areas, so they need to work within established frameworks. The next step is a gradual, phased integration, starting with internal treasury pilots before moving to client-facing wealth management products. This measured transition allows them to build expertise and confidence in the technology.
A cultural challenge can exist between product-driven DeFi entrepreneurs and user-focused finance veterans. What specific strategies can bridge this divide in a partnership? Please share an example of how both sides can align their goals to create a successful product.
The cultural friction is very real. You often have DeFi natives who are brilliant, vision-driven innovators focused on the product and the technology itself. On the other side, you have finance veterans who live and breathe the user experience, regulatory compliance, and risk management. The key to bridging this divide is translation and alignment of goals. It’s not about forcing a banker to wear a hoodie or a startup founder to wear a tie; that’s a tired cliché. It’s about each side translating what they need into a language the other understands. For instance, a DeFi team might propose a groundbreaking but complex feature. Instead of shutting it down, the banking partner can translate their user-centric concerns: “How do we make this intuitive for a customer who has never heard of a blockchain? How do we ensure this meets our compliance obligations?” By working together, they can align on a shared goal: launching a successful, compliant, and user-friendly product that leverages the best of both worlds.
In the U.S., Pay by Bank adoption sits at just 15%, even though it is significantly cheaper for merchants. Beyond educating consumers, what specific incentives or user experience changes are needed to overcome the dominance of card payments?
The cost savings for merchants are incredibly compelling—a Pay by Bank transaction for $100 can be half the cost of a debit card payment, coming in at around $1.25 versus up to $3.90. Yet, adoption lags because consumers are creatures of habit, and cards are comfortable and familiar. Education is a start, but it’s not enough. We need to tackle this from two angles: incentives and user experience. For incentives, merchants could pass a portion of their savings directly to the consumer, offering a small but immediate discount for choosing Pay by Bank at checkout. On the user experience side, the process has to be absolutely seamless and frictionless. It can’t feel like a clunky bank transfer; it needs to be as fast and easy as tapping a card or a phone, with clear, “friendly friction” like biometric authentication to build trust and ensure security. Overcoming card dominance requires making the alternative not just cheaper, but tangibly better and more rewarding for the end user.
Successful bank-fintech partnerships are said to require trust, authenticity, and dedication. How do these qualities manifest in daily operations? Could you provide an anecdote or metric that demonstrates how a fintech can prove its dedication to an incumbent partner during the integration process?
Those three words—trust, authenticity, and dedication—are the bedrock of any successful partnership. In daily operations, this isn’t about grand gestures; it’s about consistent reliability. Authenticity means a fintech is transparent about its capabilities and limitations from day one. Trust is built when they consistently deliver on their promises. Dedication is proven during the tough moments, especially during integration. For example, a fintech can demonstrate its dedication not just by meeting deadlines, but by proactively identifying a potential integration snag in the bank’s legacy system that wasn’t in their original scope. Instead of pointing fingers, they could dedicate their own engineering resources to co-develop a workaround. This act shows they aren’t just a vendor; they are a true partner invested in the mutual success of the project, willing to go beyond the contract to solve a shared problem.
What is your forecast for the adoption of tokenized real-world assets in wealth management over the next five years?
My forecast is one of steady, gradual transition rather than a sudden explosion. The pieces are all falling into place. Institutional interest is growing, and the technology for tokenizing assets like equities and bonds is maturing. The biggest catalyst, however, will be regulatory clarity. As regulators provide clear frameworks, banks will gain the confidence they need to fully enter this space. Their participation is the key, as it will legitimize tokenized assets for a much broader audience of investors. So, over the next five years, I don’t expect a single piece of legislation to open the floodgates overnight. Instead, we’ll see a progressive adoption curve, with banks starting to integrate these assets into their wealth management platforms, ultimately leading to more liquid, accessible, and efficient markets for their clients.
