Europe’s payments in 2026: survey maps priorities

Finextra Research conducted an online survey in April 2026 of 195 payments professionals in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the UK and Belgium to map current priorities across the sector.

Respondents represented banks, fintechs, regulators, payments providers and technology firms. The questionnaire focused on agentic AI and fraud management, account-to-account (A2A) and instant payments, mobile use cases, stablecoins and the European Central Bank’s digital euro, interoperability, cross-border settlement and regulatory issues, plus the impact of Open Banking and Open Finance.

On AI and fraud, the survey asked about the use of automated decisioning and machine learning for detection, prevention and case management, and where organisations are directing investment for fraud controls.

Questions on payments rails probed adoption of A2A and instant payment capabilities and the development of mobile payment services that run on those rails.

The survey included items on stablecoins and the ECB’s digital euro to assess market readiness and to identify potential operational and regulatory implications of tokenised payment instruments.

On interoperability and cross-border payments, respondents were asked about technical and commercial barriers to settlement across national schemes and between private and public infrastructures, and about priorities for aligning cross-border rules.

Regulatory questions addressed compliance burdens, enforcement focus and where firms see gaps in existing rules that affect cross-border flows.

Questions on Open Banking and Open Finance covered data sharing practices, competitive effects and how new data arrangements are enabling different payment flows and services.

The published report contains regional takeaways for the six surveyed countries, showing where respondents identified immediate operational issues and where they expect market development to be concentrated.

Finextra released the survey in April 2026. The dataset provides a snapshot of how industry participants are prioritising technology, product and policy choices in Europe’s payments market.