Banking Trend Monitor 2025: AI-based technologies on everyone's lips alongside open banking

In 2025, banks and financial service providers will undoubtedly face significant challenges: Their services and products are increasingly under scrutiny due to new regulatory requirements, such as the DORA regulation coming into effect in January. At the same time, banks must pursue a strong customer-centric approach to survive in the market. Rapid developments in AI technology provide an unprecedented technological push that forces all players—regardless of size—to keep up or risk falling behind. Other new or established trends, such as Open Banking, are also driving the continuous shift towards greater customer centricity in the banking sector.

In this dynamic environment, it is crucial to stay up-to-date to maintain a connection with customers and the market. Therefore, this blog post aims to provide an in-depth look at current trends in the banking sector and their place in the classic hype cycle.

Many developments mentioned in our previous trend monitor have evolved since 2023, and we will thoroughly evaluate the corresponding changes. Furthermore, we will introduce new trends that are emerging in the industry and could significantly influence the strategies of banks and financial institutions. We draw on our own expertise as well as insights from leading market experts (as presented in our article about the Handelsblatt BankenTech Messe 2024). Other technologies mentioned in 2023 have become established and are thus not included in this edition.

The objective of this article is to provide banks and financial service providers with valuable insights into how they can prepare for the challenges and opportunities of the coming years.

The umbrella term Artificial Intelligence was already mentioned in our 2023 Trend Monitor. Given the immensely strong development in recent years, it only makes sense to differentiate further "AI", as many different use cases and subfields have evolved at varying rates.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) undoubtedly experienced the biggest upswing. We already described this movement in an earlier contribution. Through the integration of Large Language Models (LLMs), countless new possibilities are opening up for banks and their customers regarding customer interactions and processing customer inquiries. An example of this is the DZ BANK chatbot, which can automatically offer customers tailored solutions to their problems. Many other banks either already offer similar solutions in their companies or are about to do so. The use of these LLMs thus also contributes to the ever-present meta-trend of individualization and customer-centricity. Due to the market-wide presence of GenAI, we no longer classify this trend as mere hype: users correctly understand the potential and also know the (current) limitations of GenAI, so we place this technology in our hype cycle just before general introduction.

Another application of AI is still in its infancy and could massively change not only the banking sector but also other industries shortly. Agentic AI refers to a concept within artificial intelligence where systems can act independently and achieve goals without the need for human-written prompts. These systems use complex thinking and planning processes to autonomously solve often multi-stage problems. Agentic AI stands out for its ability to self-direct and adapt to different situations, making it a promising tool for various applications. For example, these "agentic systems" can be used to detect fraud and money laundering cases by monitoring suspicious transaction patterns and anomalies. Agentic AI is also used in other areas, and banks and financial companies are facing a revolution in the banking sector with this technology.

In addition to Agentic AI and GenAI, other technologies based on Artificial Intelligence are currently emerging. For simplification, we summarize these here as Other AI Technologies. These technologies are still in development, but their potential is foreseeable. These include, without claiming to be exhaustive, technologies such as AI Simulations, Decision Intelligence, and more. We refer here to the Gartner AI Hype Cycle, which was published in November 2024.

It is clear: Artificial Intelligence is being applied in very different areas in the financial industry. This current hype continues, and the range of use cases will continue to grow, which is why we position this trend on our hype cycle near the peak of hype.

Compared to our Trend Monitor from 2023, some trends appear for the first time in this edition.

Digital Identities Enable More Efficient and Secure Identification and Verification of Customers

The trend of Digital Identities in banking is also gaining increasing importance as banks and financial institutions must adapt to the requirements of digitalization. The reusability of KYC (Know Your Customer) is seen as a central aspect that can fundamentally change the customer relationship. Digital identities offer the possibility to identify and verify customers more efficiently and securely, thereby better meeting compliance requirements. Moreover, increasing digitalization opens up new approaches for Open Banking by promoting seamless integration and interoperability between different service providers.

A driver for this topic in 2025 will be the eIDAS regulation, which has been in effect since 2016 and was recently revised. The amendment is intended to enable EU citizens to securely identify themselves online and use electronic signatures in a unified system, as well as strengthen trust in digital transactions. All EU member states must offer a so-called "Identity Wallet" for their citizens by 2027.

Quantum Computing Is Considered a Future Technology, but Could Rapidly Gain Momentum in the Coming Years

A technology that is still in the experimental phase could have a major impact on finance in the future. The idea of quantum computing has existed since the 1980s; the first quantum computer has officially existed since 1998. Rapid developments between 2023 and 2024 show a clear upward trend here. IBM plans to introduce the first quantum-centric supercomputer in 2025. Such technology could find application in various areas in the future: portfolio management, payment processing, macroeconomic modelling, and more. While a near-term establishment in the market is not yet expected, it is still worth observing what development Quantum Computing will make in the next 5-10 years.

About the Study

For this article, presentations and assessments from various institutes, companies, and associations were used, which our experts at Intero Consulting have attended or otherwise followed over the past few months. With our well-founded expertise in this field, we have formed a comprehensive picture of current developments in the financial sector. This result was substantiated by intensive additional research on scientific publications, registered patents, and other relevant parameters, which sustainably guarantees the quality and significance of our Banking Trend Monitor.