Finastra's Innovating Finance Together Summit Explores What's Next for Financial Services Modernization

Event explores the priorities shaping financial services as institutions balance innovation, resilience, and growth

NEW YORK, Nov. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Finastra's third Innovating Finance Together Summit, held in New York, brought together financial industry leaders and innovators from across North America to explore the trends shaping lending, trade, and payments.

Turning innovation into outcomes

A central theme was that financial institutions are entering a new phase of modernization, where success is defined not by deploying new technology, but by extracting greater value from existing investments. Throughout the event, speakers highlighted that adoption has not necessarily kept pace with innovation, particularly as institutions navigate the convergence of AI, security, geopolitical volatility and evolving payments infrastructure.

Institutions should focus investment on a smaller, core portfolio, modernize existing platforms to improve interoperability, and use AI to deliver operational efficiencies while maintaining security, resilience and reliable money movement. Existing instant payments infrastructure remains underutilized, highlighting the need for modern API-based architecture and accessible data to support sustainable growth.  

"What struck me most was how much common ground there is across the industry.  Banks want to innovate, but they also need to get more from the technology they already have while ensuring that their systems remain secure, reliable, and resilient. The conversation is shifting from what's possible to what actually delivers value for customers.  And that's exactly where it should be," said Chris Walters, CEO, Finastra."

Key themes from the summit included:

• Lending – adaptability remains critical as lenders respond to market volatility, shifting risk dynamics and operational challenges across the leveraged-loan ecosystem. Firms must navigate continued refinancing activity, tighter economic conditions, and ongoing operational challenges.
• Payments – corporate clients increasingly expect end-to-end observability, with real-time visibility into transaction status and issues without navigating layers of customer support. The discussion also highlighted the importance of understanding evolving regulatory and legislative landscapes, particularly proposals relating to payment systems.

The imperative for secure modernization

Security and resilience emerged as critical priorities as financial institutions continue to modernize. As cyber threats become more sophisticated, financial institutions need technology environments that can adapt quickly, address vulnerabilities, and maintain resilience. Modern architecture can make it easier to deliver updates, strengthen security, and respond to emerging risks.

AI presents significant opportunities across lending, payments, and other banking operations, particularly where document handling, verification, and decision-making create bottlenecks across the workflow. Speakers emphasized the importance of starting with a clear business problem, rather than deploying AI for its own sake.  Success depends on understanding existing workflows, identifying where AI can make a difference, and keeping people involved in critical decisions, with security governance and accountability built in.

The underlying message was clear: extract value from the technology you have now. Competitive advantages will come from making smarter technology investments and getting more from existing systems while modernizing infrastructure, improving interoperability and adopting new capabilities that deliver measurable value.

About Finastra

Finastra is a global leader in financial services software, trusted by thousands of customers - including many of the world's top banks - in over 100 countries. Backed by Vista Equity Partners, we partner with financial institutions to deliver modern, reliable technology that helps them adapt, grow, and serve their customers with confidence. Visit www.finastra.com or follow Finastra on LinkedIn.