The 11th edition of the international Banking 4.0 conference was once again a promise honoured: a highly relevant event from the content perspective, highlighting the impact of emerging technologies—such as artificial intelligence, open banking, and blockchain—on financial and payment services.
Seventy-five speakers from fourteen countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Check Republic, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Luxembourg, Spain, UK) have address highly topical themes whose impact will reshape the future of banking, including agentic commerce, embedded finance, digital cash & stablecoins, invisible banking, digital identity, and open finance.
Juniper Research identifies the following 10 trends for 2026:
. Stablecoins to Rival Existing Interbank Settlement Layer
. Agentic Commerce to Reshape B2B & Consumer Purchasing
. EUDI Wallet to Redefine Digital Identity in Europe
. Tokenised Assets Will Enter the Mainstream
. GenAI to Transform Banking
. Flexible Credentials Will Drive Payment Card Renaissance
. AI Fraud Prevention Investment to Rise Amid Deepfake Threats
. Open banking payments to scale
. No-code AML Adoption to Extend Beyond Banks
. Virtual Cards Will Take Off Within Travel Payments
Each of these trends was explored in depth at Banking 4.0, where the annual gathering of experts transforms into a true celebration.
Here are some key takeaways from this year’s event:
. Artificial Intelligence
The discussion on AI Banking & Digital Assistants went straight to the core: how banks and fintechs can innovate responsibly, build real adoption, and keep pace with technology that changes faster than any regulatory update.
One of the conclusions is that regulation in Europe moves in multi-year cycles, while AI evolves in weeks. AI will always stay ahead of the regulatory cycle — and that gap is one of our biggest challenges.
– Shopping Agents are becoming a reality, potentially surprising us with our next vacation purchases.
– Banks will continue to implement AgenticAI use cases to enhance customer experience and optimize the workload of internal teams.
. Payments – from infrastructure to omnichannel journey
✅ The Romanian market offers a variety of POS solutions and equipment, but not all are „smart.” Smart POS is no longer about card acceptance — it’s about integrated journeys, real-time insights, and terminals that add value to everyday operations. Integrating APMs like Google Pay and BNPL could significantly enhance customer experience.
✅ SmartPOS is no longer just a payment terminal — it’s becoming a must-have financial hub, offering SMEs the tools they need to better serve their clients: payments, liquidity, credit, automation, insights, and more.
✅ Tokenization is becoming the universal language of payments, connecting cards, account-to-account payments, QR transactions, and digital wallets into a unified, secure, and frictionless experience.
✅ Invisible payments are already the standard for Gen Z, and expectations for simplicity, speed, and contextualization will redefine commerce over the next decade.
✅ Collaboration between banks, technology companies, and merchants can bring significant added value in terms of adoption, trust, and sustainable impact.
. Digital cash and stablecoins
👉 The usage of stablecoins is on the rise, even in the EU, with the Digital EUR coming slowly but surely.
👉 Interoperability is emerging as the real catalyst for meaningful adoption of stablecoins.
👉 Regulatory clarity is finally catching up with innovation, creating space for mature solutions.
👉 Once legal & regulatory compliance is achieved, user trust and frictionless experience will be the real battleground.
👉 Digital money is no longer an experiment — it’s becoming structural.
👉 The next phase of digital finance is already underway — and it’s moving faster than most expect.
CBDCs (central bank digital currencies)
👉 The market won’t be defined by a single model — stablecoins and CBDCs will coexist and shape each other.
👉 CBDCs don’t hurt banks; bad design does.
👉 A CBDC is another pocket, not a replacement for deposits.
👉 CBDC is not the end of commercial banking. It is the beginning of central banking in the algorithmic age.
👉 For a potential digital leu, trust in the central bank is the anchor. For a digital euro, adoption depends on digital-financial literacy, as well as FX hedging behaviour.
New products
– Reverse mortgages could be a valuable service for the elderly in Romania, and banks should seize the opportunity to introduce this offering.
– At this year’s Banking 4.0 conference, Symphopay, the Romanian fintech specializing in omnichannel payment orchestration, officially launched Symphopay ONE, a new platform designed to help banks reclaim leadership in the payments ecosystem by transforming acquiring into a strategic growth engine. Symphopay ONE addresses one of the biggest structural challenges in modern acquiring — fragmentation. By connecting every channel, merchant, and transaction under one intelligent orchestration layer, banks can operate with greater visibility, agility, and control.
Quotes
“Banking 4.0 is one of the few places where technology, regulation, and user behaviour truly come together. And for Visa, as a leader in digital payments, that intersection is where the real value lies. Events like this one help ground big ideas in real-world needs. They’re a reminder that progress comes from collaboration: listening, testing, refining, and building systems that simply work for everyone.” – said Catalin Cretu, general manager Visa for Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovenia.
“Banking 4.0 is where vision meets technology. We are honoured to contribute across key moments of this year’s edition—from leading the debate on the future of payments to unveiling our new product designed to redefine acquiring.” – said Daniel Nicolescu, CEO of Symphopay.
“Since 2017, Banking 4.0 has grown continuously, becoming today perhaps the most relevant fintech conference in the region dedicated to the impact of emerging technologies on banking. In addition to banks and fintech companies, this year the Banking 4.0 community has expanded to include national payment schemes, pension funds, leasing companies, and insurance companies — a clear sign that the adoption of new technologies is on the radar of all players in the financial and banking industry,” said Sergiu Cone, founder and organizer of Banking 4.0.
The success of this Banking 4.0 edition was made possible by the support of our valued partners:
Gold Partners: VISA, SYMPHOPAY
Silver Partners: BLIK, BRD, EVROTRUST, GARANTI BBVA, GFT Technologies , IT SMART SYSTEMS, ZITEC
Classic Partners: AIM SOLUTION SERV, BCR, CEC BANK, FME ROMANIA, SALT BANK, THALES, TRANSACTION SYSTEMS, TxD IT SOLUTIONS, VISION SMART TECHNOLOGY
Technology Partners: FILBO, RUBRIK, SIBS, T8X
Mobility Partner: MOOV LEASING
Institutional Partners: AAFBR, ARMO, ARB, ANIS, ATR, and ROFintech.
About Banking 4.0 conference
Banking 4.0 was launched in 2017, as a natural extension of the work that NOCASH had been driving since 2001 to advance Romania’s financial innovation. After almost two decades of shaping the electronic payments ecosystem, NOCASH recognized that the future of finance would be defined not only by payments, but by the broader transformation of banking itself.
Introduced in the wake of the European Commission’s PSD2 directive to democratize banking, Banking 4.0 quickly became the platform where banks, fintechs, regulators, and technology leaders explore how emerging technologies reshape the industry.
Since then, thousands of experts from 35+ countries have joined in person, while more than 20,000 have attended online. Each edition highlights the breakthroughs and trends redefining financial services.
Since its debut, Banking 4.0 has become the leading fintech and banking innovation event in South-Eastern Europe. Every edition unites banks, fintechs, regulators, and technology innovators to explore the future of digital transformation, customer experience, and financial ecosystems.
With a foundation built over two decades, Banking 4.0 has grown into an internationally recognized brand that continues to inspire, connect, and shape the future of banking. Celebrated its 11th edition on 26 November, Banking 4.0 continues to set the agenda for the next decade of innovation.
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„To be honest I think that Sinaia, your conference, is much better then Davos.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
