As the year closes, many financial businesses fall into the same pattern: racing to hit Q4 targets while postponing structural evaluation. But entering 2026 without strategic readiness is essentially inviting avoidable risks—fraud escalation, compliance gaps, operational inefficiencies, and rising costs. Next year isn’t about who grows fastest, but who is most prepared for tightening regulations, more sophisticated fraud, and users who are increasingly concerned about digital safety.
Instead of guessing what matters, here are the five priorities every financial business should settle before entering 2026.
1. Regulatory Readiness 2026: Compliance Is No Longer a Checklist
Regulators are tightening their standards, especially around eKYC, AML, cybersecurity, and data governance. Yet many companies feel “safe” simply because their onboarding process is compliant. Unfortunately, audits now examine far more than onboarding. Authentication flows, account recovery, data handling, and fraud mitigation are becoming central to regulatory evaluations.
Common blind spots:
- Outdated SOPs and risk indicators
- Authentication methods that no longer meet new expectations
- Security controls that haven’t evolved with current threats
In 2026, regulators are shifting from adherence to resilience. Businesses must conduct internal audits that reflect real-world risks: is the identity journey—from verification to authorization—truly robust?
2. Fraud Prevention: Deepfakes & Synthetic Identities Will Break Old Models
Fraud in 2026 will not resemble fraud from previous years. With generative AI becoming mainstream, criminals can create synthetic identities, realistic face deepfakes, and convincing voice impersonations. Relying on a single verification checkpoint is a recipe for catastrophic failure.
Risky assumptions to abandon:
- “Our fraud volume is low, so we’re safe.”
- “Manual review works well enough.”
- “We’ll deal with threats when they appear.”
What’s needed is multi-layer identity security—combining biometric verification, liveness checks, behavioral patterns, cross-referenced data, and anomaly detection. In 2026, the speed of recognizing a threat is just as important as the accuracy.
3. Operational Efficiency: Competition Tightens, Margins Shrink
Financial institutions often assume they need more people to manage increasing complexity. In reality, the biggest bottlenecks usually come from manual processes that are highly automatable—document review, identity checks, fraud triage, and operational decisioning.
With margins shrinking across the industry, efficiency is no longer optional. It’s a strategic foundation. Before 2026, companies should:
- Identify repetitive processes that delay SLA
- Evaluate which workflows can be automated without reducing quality
- Minimize dependency on human review that leads to errors and burnout
Healthy efficiency isn’t about reducing headcount—it’s about enabling teams to focus on high-value work rather than repetitive admin.
4. AI Governance & Data Strategy: Build the Foundation Before Scaling AI
The financial sector is one of the heaviest adopters of AI, from credit scoring to anomaly detection to customer service. Yet many institutions still use AI tools without formal governance. Without clear policies, the risk of data leakage, biased outputs, and misuse increases significantly.
Key preparations:
- Establish a clear AI usage policy internally
- Ensure data hygiene: clean, consistent, and structured
- Audit security practices to prevent sensitive data from leaking through third-party tools
In 2026, AI is no longer “nice to have” — it will become a core part of operational infrastructure. That’s why the foundation must be solid before ambitious AI initiatives begin.
5. Trust & Transparency: Users Want Real Safety, Not Marketing Promises
Digital users in Indonesia are becoming far more aware of fraud, impersonation, and data misuse. They want to understand how their data is verified, stored, and protected. Next year, trust won’t be built through convenience alone; it will be built through clarity and honesty.
Businesses should strengthen:
- Transparency in explaining identity verification
- User control over personal data
- Reliable biometric and liveness technologies for securing onboarding and authentication
Trust isn’t just good branding—it’s a competitive advantage. Companies that fail to provide transparency will lose users to those that can demonstrate real safety.
Conclusion: Entering 2026 Without Blind Spots
Preparing for the new year isn’t about adding more goals but eliminating vulnerabilities that could carry over into 2026. With stronger readiness in these five areas—regulation, fraud prevention, operational efficiency, AI governance, and trust—financial institutions can enter the new year with far greater stability and confidence.
Last modified: November 27, 2025
