Fintech

6 Fintech Startup Predictions For 2026
ByAlex Lazarow,
Senior Contributor
Six fintech trends that will shape 2026, including AI startup and investment trends, the shift in cross-border transactions patterns, and the surge in M&A deals.
More From Fintech
Revolut’s De Novo Bet: How The Fintech Giant Plans To Build A US Bank
Fintech giant Revolut is ditching acquisitions to build a bank from scratch. Here is how the de novo process works and what it means for consumers.
Senior Contributor
Once As High $360 Billion PayPal’s Market Value Has Slipped To $40 Billion, Below Former Parent, eBay
PayPal shares plunged after earnings, pushing its market cap below eBay's for the first time since 2015 and signaling a major shift in digital payments.
Forbes Staff
Fed’s New Instant Payment Rails Gain Momentum: 1,600 Banks Sign Up
Stop waiting for your own money to "clear." Discover how a major banking shift is finally bringing true 24/7 instant cash to your bank's app.
Senior Contributor
Why Revolut Is Pivoting To A Standalone U.S. Bank License Strategy
The $75 billion giant Revolut is betting on a new path to conquer American finance. This is what changed and why.
Senior Contributor
Why Google Is A Bigger Fintech Success Than Meta
Discover why Google leads fintech over Meta, with success in payments, user trust, and AI, while Meta faces hurdles in regulation and adoption.
Contributor
How Modern Is Your Bank? Meet Square’s Vision For Self-Driving Money
Forget manual bookkeeping. Discover how AI agents and embedded tools are turning bank accounts into self-driving engines for your business.
Senior Contributor
Phia’s $35 Million Series A Signals How AI Agents Reshape Fintech
As AI shopping agents influence intent before checkout, Phia’s $35 million Series A signals how fintech may be reshaped in an agentic commerce era.
Contributor
The Return Of Bank Balance Sheets In Fintech Strategy
Why banks are reclaiming balance-sheet control in fintech partnerships as funding costs rise, regulation tightens, and deposits become a strategic moat again.
Contributor
As Banking Moves Beyond Banks, Data Privacy Becomes The Constraint
Open banking, embedded finance, and AI are changing where bank data flows. Data privacy now determines how far innovation can scale.
ByPam Kaur,
Contributor
Why Payroll Became A Payments Problem—And How Papaya Solved It
Eynat Guez explains how Papaya Global turned payroll into payments infrastructure, reducing risk, improving compliance, and scaling global workforces.
ByGeri Stengel,
Contributor
3 Second Order Lessons Of Brex’s Acquisition
Capital One announced last week that it's acquiring Brex. This post is about three second order lessons.
ByAlex Lazarow,
Senior Contributor
How This Startup Is Solving The 1% Trust Problem Facing CFOs
CFOs trust AI for 99% of tasks but demand human oversight. Learn how the latest wave of fintech startups are approaching finance automation's trust problem.
Contributor
Capital One Buys Brex: Why This $5 Billion Deal Changes Banking
Meet the CTO behind this $5.15 billion acquisition which marks a massive shift as Brex's AI agents and software platform move to supercharge Capital One's global scale.
Senior Contributor
From P2P To Platforms: The Next Phase For Money Transfers
The biggest businesses in consumer money transfers are increasingly working to become singular platforms serving consumers and business’s financial needs.
Contributor
How Jelou Is Turning WhatsApp Into A Global Banking Connection
Latin America is leapfrogging traditional tech, building AI-powered financial tools inside WhatsApp. Chat-based commerce is reshaping who participates in the economy.
Contributor
Why Banks Are Rejecting Too Many Small Business Loans
Explore how AI may change the face of SME lending in the USA.
Contributor
Why Capital One’s $5 Billion Acquisition Of Fintech Brex Could Be Another Masterstroke For Billionaire Richard Fairbank
Corporate credit cards may seem mundane, but adding Brex to Capital One’s credit card platform, which now includes Discover, and applying its technology-first approach creates big opportunities for the Virginia-based bank.
ByJeff Kauflin,
Forbes Staff



















