Industry – Financial Services

Unconstrained Banking​

Published: December 2025
Authors: Michael Abbot, Sulabh Agarwal, Brian Shniderman
Research lead: Francesca Caminiti

Accenture’s Top Banking Trends 2026 report positions banking at an inflection point, as long-standing constraints on growth, cost, technology and capacity begin to dissolve. Drawing on multiple executive and consumer surveys, economic modeling and global client work, the report identifies forces reshaping the industry across six areas: money, experience, work and talent, technology, risk and regulation, and competition. It highlights how digital currencies, tokenization and agentic payments could shift up to $13 trillion in transaction value by 2030, placing $13 billion in payment fees at risk. It shows how agentic AI can decouple growth from headcount, enabling “10× banks” with sharply higher productivity. The report also warns that rising tech debt, fragmented risk oversight and intensifying competition threaten profitability, with more than $200 trillion in global deposits and loans exposed to disruption. Together, the trends provide a practical roadmap for banks to modernize, manage risk holistically and compete in an AI-first future.

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Unconstrained Banking

Accenture’s Top Banking Trends 2026 report positions banking at an inflection point, as long-standing constraints on growth, cost, technology and capacity begin to dissolve. Drawing on multiple...

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Getting past the transformation euphemism
How insurance outperformers tackle change and deliver sustainable results

Published: June 2025
Authors: Jeff Mitch, Kenneth Salddanha, Khalid Lahraouri
Research lead: Andre Schlieker

This report shows that insurance outperformers achieve results through disciplined execution rather than broad “transformation” rhetoric. Over two years, they outpaced peers by 8.1 percentage points in premium revenues and 2.6 points in expense ratio reduction. Top change drivers are technological advances and product innovation, both cited by 61% of insurers. Outperformers emphasize automation (82%), digitization (79%) and operating model streamlining (55%), significantly above peers. Yet many insurers face transformation fatigue, technical debt, and only 15% believe savings are sustainable. The report concludes sustainable success requires clarity, purpose and disciplined alignment of change with measurable business outcomes.

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Getting past the transformation euphemism

This report shows that insurance outperformers achieve results through disciplined execution rather than broad “transformation”...

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Banking consumer study 2025
Where is the love?

Authors: Michael Abbott, Kim Kim Oon, Antonio Coppolecchia, Mauro Centonze
Research lead: Mauro Centonze
Published: March 2025

To differentiate and grow, banks must turn customers into advocates who recommend their services. Accenture’s study identifies four advocacy drivers: reassuring customers that their financial well-being matters, remembering unique needs, delighting them with valued interactions and rewarding loyalty in tailored ways. Banks with the highest advocacy scores see 1.7x faster revenue growth than those with the lowest scores, with higher growth seen in North America (2.6x).

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Banking consumer study 2025

To differentiate and grow, banks must turn customers into advocates who recommend their services. Accenture’s study identifies four advocacy drivers: reassuring...

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Underwriting rewritten
Harnessing the power of gen AI for data-driven risk management

Research lead: Michael Reilly, Matthew Madsen, Teifion James
Research lead: Juan Demarchi
Published: July 2025

Underwriting is set for reinvention as insurers rapidly scale AI and Gen AI. Accenture’s survey of 430 executives shows adoption climbing from 14% today to 70% within three years, with 81% expecting new roles and efficiency gains. Challenges include siloed data, heavy reliance on PDFs and limited synthetic (44%) and structured data (38%) use, especially in life insurance. External pressures—regulation (77%), technology change (68%) and customer expectations (67%)—intensify the need for change. To capture full value, insurers must deploy agentic AI, redesign workflows for human-AI collaboration and invest in skills, ensuring underwriting evolves into a faster, smarter, data-driven function.

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Underwriting rewritten

Underwriting is set for reinvention as insurers rapidly scale AI and Gen AI. Accenture’s survey of 430 executives shows adoption climbing from 14% today to 70% within three years, with...

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Powering wealth management with generative AI

Authors: Saira Shariff
Research lead: Matthew Bonshak
Published: February 2025

Gen AI is poised to transform North American wealth management by enabling hyper-personalized services, smarter investment strategies and stronger client relationships. Accenture’s survey of 500 financial advisors shows 96% see gen AI as a game changer, and 97% expect major impact within three years. Yet only 41% of firms are scaling adoption, creating a first-mover advantage. The report urges firms to move beyond experimentation and embed AI into core strategy. Key blockers—legacy tech, poor data and client trust—must be addressed. Recommendations include investing in modern data infrastructure, fostering transparency and embedding responsible AI practices to ensure trust and a sustained competitive edge.

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Powering wealth management with generative AI

Gen AI is poised to transform North American wealth management by enabling hyper-personalized services, smarter investment...

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Banking: The future is back
Trends shaping the industry in 2025 and beyond

Authors: Michael Abbott
Research lead: Dariusz Orynek
Published: January 2025

The report reveals that while digitization boosted efficiency, it also left banking impersonal—over 40% of consumers struggle to distinguish brands and only 29% are “very satisfied” with chatbot interactions. Now, gen AI is set to transform banking by restoring personalization and deepening trust. The report outlines 10 key shifts, including AI-powered customer experiences, a surge in private credit—growing 20% annually— and the dominance of scale, with larger banks consistently showing higher price-to-book ratios. Platforms like Nubank serve over 100 million users at just $2/month in operating costs. Banks must move from siloed products to customer-first ecosystems, adopt open-source and cloud-native infrastructure and modernize legacy code using AI. The future lies in combining tech with empathy to become true financial partners.

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Banking: The future is back

The report reveals that while digitization boosted efficiency, it also left banking impersonal—over 40% of consumers struggle to distinguish brands and only 29% ...

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Universal wallet infrastructure
Setting the stage for truly user-centric business models

Authors: Tejas Patel, Pooja Sanghvi, Michael Klein, Marie Wallace, John Lee
Research lead: Shruti Shalini
Published: January 2025

Today’s digital world is fragmented. Consumers manage multiple wallets, platforms and identities, while businesses struggle to deliver trust-based, personalized services. This white paper by Accenture and NTT Digital proposes a new model— the Universal Wallet Infrastructure (UWI)—to address these issues. UWI is a secure, interoperable system where users control their identity, money and digital assets through a single wallet. Powered by tokenization, verifiable credentials and AI agents, it enables consent-driven data exchange, streamlines processes and unlocks hyper-personalized experiences. More than a wallet, UWI is the infrastructure for a user-centric digital economy—connecting individuals, businesses and ecosystems in trusted, intelligent and scalable ways.

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Universal wallet infrastructure

Today’s digital world is fragmented. Consumers manage multiple wallets, platforms and identities, while businesses struggle to deliver trust-based, personalized...

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Elevating the exchange
Your guide to bringing digital infrastructure to the next level

Authors:  Oscar Garcia, Schira Lillis
Research lead: Schira Lillis
Published: February 2025

Securities exchanges worldwide are under pressure. The traditional business of exchanges (notably listings and trading services) saw profit margins collapse by almost 80% over the past 10 years. Many established exchanges are also dealing with operational efficiency challenges stemming from outdated infrastructure. To navigate these and other challenges, exchanges need to take four critical steps: 1) design a simpler, fully integrated and modernized technology architecture; 2) turn this new architecture into reality with cloud; 3) harness the power of gen AI and distributed ledger technology to bolster client experiences and operational efficiency; and 4) tap new sources of revenue through product innovation and nontraditional services.

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Elevating the exchange

Securities exchanges worldwide are under pressure. The traditional business of exchanges (notably listings and trading services) saw profit margins collapse by almost 80% over...

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Steering through activist investor demands

Authors: Andrew Adams, Kevin Callahan, Michael Lyman, Rachel Barton, Himanshu Patney
Research lead: Himanshu Patney
Published: October 2024

Activist investor activity is accelerating, with campaigns up
7% globally and activist capital deployment rising 20% in just
one year. However, many companies remain underprepared,
exposing themselves to value erosion, leadership shakeups
and strategic derailment. To stay ahead, leaders should take a
proactive stance: identify vulnerabilities early, align stakeholders
and anchor reinvention in a clear value-creation narrative.
This report offers a three-part playbook focused on readiness,
transparency and speed to help companies anticipate and
respond to activist demands. For clients, it’s a roadmap to
transform disruption into strategic clarity, protect long-term
value and strengthen investor confidence.

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Steering through activist investor demands

Activist investor activity is accelerating, with campaigns up
7% globally and activist capital deployment rising 20% in just
one year. However, many companies...

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Navigating through turbulence
Reinventing retirement recordkeeping

Authors: Tim Hoying, David Mallett, Dean Edwards, Schira Lillis
Research lead: Matthew Bonshak
Published: September 2024

The retirement recordkeeping industry stands at a tipping point: while the $10.3 trillion Defined Contribution market continues to grow, fee compression is intensifying across all plan sizes, eroding traditional revenue streams. Consolidation is accelerating, with the top five recordkeepers projected to control over 75% of assets within a decade. Reinvention is now imperative. Future winners will attain a lean cost structure, expand into transformative revenue pools like in-plan financial advice and retail wealth and orchestrate dynamic stakeholder ecosystems. Those that act now—modernizing operations, adopting AI and embracing new growth models—will capture the next era of trust, scale and profitability.

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Navigating through turbulence

The retirement recordkeeping industry stands at a tipping point: while the $10.3 trillion Defined Contribution market continues to grow, fee compression...

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The future of Asia wealth management 2025
Front office reimagined

Authors: David Wilson, Nicole Bodac
Published: November 2025

Asia’s wealth is growing fast, but firms will not win by riding market momentum alone. The real test is whether they can redesign the front office to capture it. This report argues that with onshore affluent and high-net-worth wealth projected to reach US$363 trillion by 2026, firms cannot rely on incremental hiring or siloed digital upgrades. Research spanning 4,762 investors and 16 senior executives across 11 markets finds that traditional expansion captures only 10% of potential revenue uplift. The bigger opportunity lies in redesigning the front office around the 5Ps — pricing, onshore and offshore penetration, productivity and proposition.

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The future of Asia wealth management 2025

Asia’s wealth is growing fast, but firms will not win by riding market momentum alone. The real test is whether they can redesign the front office to capture it...

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A new legacy of payments growth

Authors: Sulabh Agarwal, Ryan McQueen, Kimberly Kacal, Brian Shniderman, Edlayne Burr, Hannes Fourie
Research lead: Hannes Fourie
Published: December 2024

Banks face fierce competition from fintechs, bigtechs and new players like central banks and telecoms. Yet, they can unlock a $55 billion growth opportunity by modernizing payments with a strong digital core. Accenture’s study of 326 banking executives highlights four key actions: move from one-off to continuous modernization, invest in digital core infrastructure, tackle technical debt and embrace gen AI. Leading banks— those with high digital core maturity—have already captured $14 billion in benefits and expect a 2% increase in payments profitability by 2025. They outperform peers with advanced AI, seamless integration and faster innovation cycles. Case studies from Nationwide, DBS and VeloBank show how tech investments reduce costs, speed up deployments and transform payments.

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A new legacy of payments growth

Banks face fierce competition from fintechs, bigtechs and new players like central banks and telecoms. Yet, they can unlock a $55 billion growth opportunity by...

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Reinventing Risk Management
A tipping point for risk leadership

Authors: David Maya, Laura Bray, Ozan Karan, Ben Shorten
Research lead: Michela Coppola
Published: September 2024

The banking industry is confronting a convergence of pressures that demand nothing short of a generational shift in risk management. Heightened economic volatility, geopolitical instability, rapid technological disruption and a regulatory environment in flux have made it imperative for risk leaders to reassess and fundamentally reinvent their models—not only to keep up, but to lead through uncertainty.

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Reinventing Risk Management

The banking industry is confronting a convergence of pressures that demand nothing short of a generational shift in risk management. Heightened economic...

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The AI playbook for financial services​

Author: David Parker
Published: June 2026

Artificial intelligence has moved beyond experimentation to become a strategic imperative for financial institutions. The World Economic Forum developed this report in collaboration with Accenture, drawing on insights from more than 150 industry leaders to outline how organizations can scale AI responsibly. It argues that lasting value depends on embedding AI into enterprise strategy, redesigning workflows around human and AI collaboration, building a secure enterprise intelligence platform and strengthening governance and risk management. The report also examines how agentic AI can transform customer experience, operations and decision-making while preserving trust, accountability and regulatory compliance.

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The AI playbook for financial services

Artificial intelligence has moved beyond experimentation to become a strategic imperative for financial institutions ...

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From sharper insights to structural edge: Why AI-native decision-making will define winners in commodity markets

Authors: Miguel G. Torreira, Ogan Kose, Nikiforos Atsikpasis, Lydia Karagianni, Jia Liu
Published: June 2026

AI is changing the basis of competitive advantage in commodity trading. This report argues that success no longer depends on access to information but on the ability to interpret signals, make decisions and learn faster than competitors. It introduces the concept of an AI-native decision engine that combines data, AI and continuous learning to improve trading performance across alpha generation, execution efficiency, risk management and operations. The authors outline five priorities for leaders: link AI to measurable P&L outcomes, redesign ways of working, build an AI-enabled digital core, embed responsible AI governance and institutionalize continuous reinvention.

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From sharper insights to structural edge:

Why AI-native decision-making will define winners in commodity markets ...

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