Financial Services Trends 2026: After a flat 2025, financial services sees a 2x revenue hit in 2026
MUMBAI, India, Feb. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Netcore today released Financial Services Trends 2026, a new thought leadership report that examines how banks, fintechs and insurers are reshaping growth as artificial intelligence moves from experimentation to execution.
The report concludes that while AI expanded rapidly across financial services in 2025, significant growth lagged. AI pilots multiplied, personalization tools expanded, and digital channels increased, but fragmented execution, static customer journeys, and the erosion of trust diluted the real impact.
As the industry enters 2026, the report identifies an inflection point. Competitive advantage will flow to organizations that implement Agentic AI in real-time customer interaction, moving beyond insights and recommendations toward autonomous and governed actions.
“2025 taught financial services leaders a hard truth: intelligence without execution does not drive growth,” said Rajesh Jain, founder and CEO of Netcore. “Agent marketing represents the next phase where AI is trusted to act within clear boundaries, journeys adapt in real time, and growth is achieved through relevance, continuity and trust, not volume.”
According to the report, 2025 was not a year of failure for financial services, but an eye-opener. Leaders discovered that using more tools, more messages, and more channels did not guarantee better results.
Five assumptions were quietly broken:
• AI adoption did not equal execution, as most systems remained advisory.
• Digital innovation increased complexity, often adding customer friction.
• Personalization failed to improve engagement as relevance depended on timing and intent.
• Omnichannel strategies lacked continuity, which interrupted journeys between touchpoints.
• Acquisition-driven growth weakened as value was lost during onboarding and early engagement.
Together, these lessons exposed a deeper truth: Engagement models were created for a slower, simpler world.
Five trends that will shape financial services in 2026
The report outlines five structural changes that redefine engagement, trust and growth across financial services.
Marketing gets its first autonomous brain
AI goes from co-pilots to decision makers. Agent systems execute best actions in real time within predefined security and compliance barriers, enabling faster responses and scalable relevance.
Intent-based experiences replace digital noise
Engagement is aligned to live customer intent rather than static segments or timelines. Fewer messages, better timing, and strategic silence preserve attention and trust.
Journey Orchestration becomes the new battlefield
Leadership moves from omnichannel presence to continuity. Context, intent and story travel with the customer, allowing journeys to resume seamlessly across marketing and service.
Trust becomes a designed experience
As AI-powered actions increase, trust is built through explanations, reassurance, and visible customer control, especially during high-risk moments.
Activation emerges as the main driver of growth
Since acquisition costs increase, growth is determined after registration. Onboarding evolves into guided activation journeys focused on accelerating customers to their first moment of value.
Brands that are the first to adopt these trends.
1. Bajaj Markets: 17% ↑ Lead in-app conversions through agentic content decisions at scale
2. Axis Max Life Insurance: 5x CTR through Intended Scheduled Renewal Experiences
3. Shriram Finance: 171x ROI by orchestrating continuous, context-based funnel journeys
4. Navia – 48% ↑ App sessions building trust with educational and guided in-app experiences
The report concludes that financial services growth in 2026 will be driven by precision over scale, continuity over channels and trust over frequency. Institutions that embed intelligence into execution, build trust into experiences, and prioritize activation over acquisition will outperform their peers in an increasingly competitive and regulated landscape.
“The next wave of growth in Indian financial services will not come from expanding reach, but from bridging the gap between intention and action,” said Rajesh Jain, founder and CEO of Netcore. “Agentic Marketing gives institutions the ability to respond in real time, orchestrate journeys with continuity, and build trust into every decision, turning AI from an analytics layer into a true growth engine.”
In the era of Agentic Marketing, growth is no longer about doing more; It’s about acting better, at the right time and with the right intention.
Read the full report here – LINK
About Netcore
Netcore is a leading agent marketing platform that helps brands create omnichannel, personalized customer experiences at scale. Powered by AI, Netcore’s Customer Engagement Suite enables companies to unify customer data, activate intelligent segments, and orchestrate meaningful interactions across the customer lifecycle. Trusted by more than 6,500 brands globally across e-commerce, retail, banking and financial services, media and entertainment, and travel, Netcore Cloud works with leading companies such as Walmart, Unilever, Tommy Hilfiger, Domino’s, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and Crocs. Netcore Cloud is assessed at ISACA CMMI® Level 3 by Equalitas Certifications Limited, underscoring its commitment to process excellence. For more information, visit netcorecloud.com.
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This article was published on February 12, two thousand and twenty-six, at two fifty-two minutes in the afternoon.