What Banks Are Talking About in 2025: Key Takeaways from The Banking Scene 2025

By Joris Lochy, Product Manager at Intix

Recently, several Intix colleagues had the pleasure of attending The Banking Scene Conference in Brussels, a full day dedicated to connecting with peers, discovering cutting-edge Fintechs, and diving into the strategic conversations shaping the future of banking.

Conferences like these offer a prime opportunity to step back and reflect on the direction of our industry. With senior professionals from major banks speaking and participating in panels, it was fascinating to hear how large institutions are navigating today’s rapidly evolving financial landscape.

Here are some of the most prominent themes we observed:

The Age of AI

Artificial Intelligence was everywhere—on stage, in conversations, and embedded in nearly every Fintech’s pitch. Some key developments stood out:

Widespread Adoption: From credit scoring and customer onboarding to fraud detection and chatbot services, AI is becoming foundational in banking operations. A prime example is KBC’s AI assistant, Kate, now handling 50% of customer interactions, with two-thirds of questions resolved fully autonomously by Kate.

Agentic AI: This emerging tech, where AI systems pursue goals independently through complex reasoning, could revolutionize internal operations like e.g. procurement and operational issue resolution. It also introduces challenges and opportunities in payment authorization and fraud detection, demanding new safeguards and models. Several parties like VISA and MasterCard are starting to offer solutions for this.

Payments Revolution

Payments are undergoing their most significant transformation in decades. Key trends include:

Instant Payments: Real-time payment infrastructure is expanding globally, supported by regulatory pressure and growing consumer demand. These rails also support innovations like EPI’s Wero initiative.

Account-to-Account (A2A) Payments: Solutions like Request to Pay and mobile-based payments are beginning to challenge the dominance of card schemes. European alternatives are emerging, yet global players like Visa and MasterCard are also adapting offering more and more A2A services.

Digital Alternatives: Stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are gaining traction, offering secure, programmable, and borderless payment methods.

Blockchain’s Quiet Maturation

Blockchain may no longer be the headline act, but its integration into financial services is deepening:

Tokenized deposits, stablecoins, and CBDCs are evolving into practical tools.

In securities markets, blockchain is enabling fully digital processes—from issuance to settlement.

Operational Resilience Takes Center Stage

In a world marked by geopolitical uncertainty and increasing cyber threats, resilience is no longer optional:

Access and Continuity: Ensuring cash availability and exploring offline digital money (as part of CBDCs) are becoming critical safeguards.

Strategic Independence: Initiatives like EPI aim to reduce European reliance on non-EU payment infrastructure—though similar past attempts highlight the need for real collaboration and killing national darlings.

Platform Risks: The trend toward shared SaaS and PaaS solutions means that a failure at one provider can cascade across the sector, amplifying risk. This means new resilience strategies are required.

Regulatory Pressure Remains High

While regulation plays a crucial role in safeguarding the financial system, a “tick-the-box” and “one-size-fits-all” approach too often prevails. The inconsistent interpretation and application of the same European directives across member states lead to disproportionate implementation efforts, frequently yielding limited benefits for banks and their customers. A more pragmatic, collaborative dialogue between regulators and financial institutions is essential to ensure that compliance truly adds value.

Several recent regulatory requirements illustrate these challenges:

PSD2 TPP APIs: Intended to enhance corporate banking functionality, these APIs are rarely used in practice, rendering the investment questionable.

VoP on Batch Payments: New verification of payee mandates for batch files are impractical for most corporates, leading to widespread opt-outs despite the significant setup required.

Instant Payments: Although valuable in many contexts, they can complicate corporate processes by eliminating cut-off times, which previously ensured predictable and stable operations.

It was an energizing and insightful day, and we are already looking forward to the next edition of The Banking Scene. As the pace of innovation accelerates, so too must our commitment to transparency, resilience, and intelligent adaptation.

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