96% of payments firms now use AI in some capacity, but most are still operating on fragmented financial infrastructure that limits ROI and increases operational risk, according to according to AutoRek, a leading provider of automated reconciliation and financial controls solutions, in its 2026 Future of Payments Operations report.
The report, based on interviews with 250 senior finance leaders across the U.S. and U.K., found that AI adoption among payments firms rose from 89% in 2025 to 96% in 2026. However, the operational barriers preventing firms from fully scaling AI – including disconnected data systems, legacy infrastructure and compliance concerns – remained largely unchanged year over year.
The findings also show how quickly AI moved from prediction to reality. In 2025, 39% of payments firms named AI as the biggest change coming to their business over the following two years. 12 months on, near-universal adoption shows that change has already arrived.
While 30% of firms use AI widely across financial operations, up from 22% in 2025, 61% cite data security and regulatory risk as their top concern, 50% point to implementation costs and 46% say legacy system integration remains a major obstacle.
“The year-over-year comparison shows adoption climbed sharply while the underlying barriers held in place. Payments firms are running AI on the same fragmented data environments they had 12 months ago and the firms struggling most are the ones treating AI as a series of point solutions rather than building it into the operational foundations underneath,” said Nick Botha, VP of Payments and Retail Banking at AutoRek. “Firms that resolve the integration question in 2026 will be the ones realizing returns on the AI investments they have already made and the ones whose customers feel the difference.”
Data, cost and legacy systems are the top barriers to AI ROI
Despite rapid AI adoption, the operational barriers preventing payments firms from realizing meaningful returns on those investments have remained largely unchanged year over year. Internal legacy systems remain the leading source of data fragmentation across payments operations, ranking number one in both the 2025 and 2026 reports.
61% of respondents cited data security and regulatory risk as their top concern, while 50% pointed to implementation and maintenance costs and 46% identified legacy system integration as a major obstacle. The findings suggest many firms are deploying AI faster than they are modernizing the financial infrastructure and data environments needed to support it effectively.
“The year-over-year comparison shows adoption climbed sharply while the underlying barriers held in place. Payments firms are running AI on the same fragmented data environments they had 12 months ago, and operations teams are absorbing the consequences in increased reconciliation work, regulatory exposure and integration costs. Firms that resolve those barriers in 2026 will be the ones realizing returns on the AI investments they have already made,” noted Botha.
For more information, read the full report here.